Themanagement of spent nuclear fuel assemblies of nuclear reactors is a priority subject amongmember states of the International\nAtomic Energy Agency. For the majority of these countries, the destination of such fuel assemblies is a decision that is yet to be\nmade and the â??wait-and-seeâ? policy is thus adopted by them. In this case, the irradiated fuel is stored in on-site spent fuel pools\nuntil the power plant is decommissioned or, when there is no more racking space in the pool, they are stored in intermediate\nstorage facilities, which can be another pool or dry storage systems, until the final decision is made. The objective of this study is\nto propose a methodology that, using optimization algorithms, determines the ideal time for removal of the fuel assemblies from\nthe spent fuel pool and to place them into dry casks for intermediate storage. In this scenario, the methodology allows for the\noptimal dimensioning of the designed spent fuel pools and the casksâ?? characteristics, thus reducing the final costs for purchasing\nnew Nuclear Power Plants (NPP), as the size and safety features of the pool could be reduced and dry casks, that would be needed\nanyway after the decommissioning of the plant, could be purchased with optimal costs. To demonstrate the steps involved in the\nproposed methodology, an example is given, one which uses the Monte Carlo N-Particle code (MCNP) to calculate the shielding\nrequirements for a simplified model of a concrete dry cask. From the given example, it is possible to see that, using real-life data,\nthe proposed methodology can become a valuable tool to help making nuclear energy a more attractive choice costwise.
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