Unlike currently operating nuclear reactors, SMR-300 has been designed to store the used fuel produced over the entire operating lifetime of the plant in on-site subterranean cavities in Holtec’s HI-STORM UMAX system, which is licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and has been deployed for commercial use. This occupies a small parcel of land in the plant’s backyard. The storage cavities contain the irradiated fuel bundles in welded multi-purpose canisters, with over-packs hardened against extenuating threats such as a crashing aircraft or an incident missile.
Spent fuel from the entire 80-year design life of the SMR-300 can be stored in just 24 HI-STORM UMAX modules. For context, the image below depicts a real HI-STORM UMAX installation at a currently operating nuclear power plant. For 80 years of operation, a HI-STORM UMAX installation just half this size is required to safely store the SMR-300’s spent fuel on-site until final storage or reprocessing is required.
You must be logged in to post a comment.