By: K.P. Singh and John Zhai
Publisher: 2003 International High Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference
Year: 2003
Abstract: A structurally competent all-welded canister made of corrosion resistant alloys that is equally suitable for on-the pad storage, for long distance transport and for long-term storage in a repository – the multi-purpose canister – was proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy in the early 1990s to help standardize the packaging of spent nuclear fuel at nuclear power plants. The rise of the MPC has been instrumental in increasing the safety and security of dry storage at ISFSIs around the world. The performance imperatives of the multi-purpose canister (MPC) to satisfy the thermal and structural requirements for storage and transport under federal regulations are presented. In particular, the consequences of incorporating the MPC into cask design, particularly in fortifying the confinement boundary and strengthening the fuel basket, are explained. Analyses performed to evaluate the structural reserve in the MPC against design basis as well as beyond-the-design basis accident events are used to quantify the robustness of a state-of-the-art MPC. Bereft of environmentally fragile materials (such as carbon steel) in its internal or external body and constructed to the highest pedigree of the ASME nuclear code, a modern MPC is shown to be a competent waste package that should be readily stored in the long-term repository without additional processing.
Citation: Singh, K. & Zhai, J. “The Multi-Purpose Canister: A Bulwark of Safety in the Post-9/11 Age,” International High Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference, 2003