We are pleased to announce the completion of the design and safety analysis effort to enable the NUHOMS 24PT1-DSC canister to be up-righted and stored in the HI-STORM UMAX subterranean storage system in the vertical orientation. Analyses using NRC-approved simulation methods show that various safety margins either remain the same or are increased when the canister is translocated in HI-STORM UMAX. This effort was undertaken to unify the storage of all canister types in Holtec’s ultra-safe consolidated interim storage facility, known as HI-STORE, at the proposed ELEA site in New Mexico. Its successful execution opens the path to store all of the nation’s used fuel and other high level waste in a single inaccessible-to-terror configuration. Of course, this work can also be used to move a stored canister from NUHOMS to HI-STORM UMAX at an existing ISFSI for improved aging management, reduced accreted dose or security enhancement purposes. The principal ancillary needed to make the transfer from the horizontal to vertical storage is the “Canister Handling Apparatus” (perspective views shown below) designed to effectuate safe canister handling evolutions with ALARA.
The Design Basis earthquake for the HI-STORM UMAX system (denoted as the Most Severe Earthquake (or MSE) in the system FSAR) containing the new canister remains the same as before: ZPA of 1.5 g in the two horizontal directions and 1.0 g in the vertical direction pegged to the Regulatory Guide 1.60 spectra. As a point of reference, the MSE represents a three-dimensional earthquake of greater severity than any recorded on earth thus far, including the 1960 Valdivia (South Chile) earthquake, the great Alaska earthquake (1964) and the historic Lisbon earthquake of 1755.
“We are compiling the license submittal package and will submit it to the NRC for approval on August 29, 2016. We had held a pre-submittal meeting on this submittal with the NRC, which helped us align our analysis models with NRC’s expectations, on April 4, 2016. We are proud to offer this ground -breaking technology to the nuclear industry which fulfills our drive to provide a state-of-the-art universal storage system able to store all of the used fuel and high level waste bearing canisters scattered at sites around the country and thus to advance DOE’s vision of a safest possible consolidated interim storage facility,” says Dr. Stefan Anton, VP of Holtec’s Corporate Engineering.
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