Environmental Evaluation of Accident Tolerant Fuels with Increased Enrichment and Higher Burnup Levels – Final Report (NUREG-2266)
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Publication Information
Manuscript Completed: March 2024
Date Published: July 2024
Prepared by:
Donald E. Palmrose
Seshagiri Rao Tammara
Kenneth J. Geelhood
Donald E. Palmrose, NRC Project Manager
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
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Abstract
When reviewing a license amendment request (LAR) to adopt accident tolerant fuel (ATF) with increased enrichment and higher burnup levels beyond the currently licensed limits, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff will need to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the request. Conducting complete environmental evaluations for each individual site could result in unnecessarily complex and lengthy assessments of onsite and offsite environmental impacts. While some environmental impacts from the deployment and use of ATF will be dependent on site- and design-specific safety considerations, such as radiological effluent releases and postulated accidents, the conditions common to all light-water reactors (LWRs) for other environmental impacts could be beyond previous LWR environmental evaluations. Specifically, the anticipated enrichment levels above 5 weight percent (wt%) of uranium-235 (U-235) and burnup levels above 62 gigawatt days per metric ton of uranium (GWd/MTU) are outside the conditions supporting Table S-3 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations [10 CFR] Section 51.51(b) (10 CFR 51.51(b)) for uranium fuel cycle environmental impacts and the conditions for the use of Table S-4 of 10 CFR 51.52(c) regarding fuel and waste transportation environmental impacts, and could affect the level of environmental impacts during decommissioning.
To support efficient and effective licensing reviews of ATFs and to reduce the need for a complex site-specific environmental review for each ATF LAR, this NUREG evaluated the reasonably foreseeable impacts of near-term ATF technologies (both first- and second-generation) with increased enrichment and higher burnup levels on the uranium fuel cycle, transportation of fuel and waste, and decommissioning for LWRs (i.e., a bounding analysis). To this end, the NRC staff assessed and applied available near-term ATF technology performance analyses, data, and studies; information from prior NRC environmental analyses; and the assessment of other publicly available data sources and studies to complete an evaluation of ATF with increased enrichment and higher burnup levels. Based on the evaluations in this study, Table S-3 of 10 CFR 51.51(b) with the Continued Storage Generic Environmental Impact Statement, and the Decommissioning Generic Environmental Impact Statement would bound the deployment and use of near-term ATF for up to 10 wt% U-235 and up to 80 GWd/MTU average assembly burnup. Table S-4 of 10 CFR 51.52(c) would bound the deployment and use of near-term ATF for up to 8 wt% U-235 and 80 GWd/MTU average assembly burnup. This study also indicates there would be no significant adverse environmental impacts for the uranium fuel cycle, transportation of fuel and wastes, and decommissioning associated with deploying near-term ATF.
Page Last Reviewed/Updated Tuesday, July 30, 2024