The Dry Storage System for Irradiated Fuel at Hydro-Québec's Gentilly-2 NPP

Abstract

Gentilly-2 nuclear power plant, in commercial operation since 1983, is located on the right bank of the St. Lawrence River about 15 km east of the city of Trois-Rivières. This paper focuses the irradiated fuel management system used for onsite interim storage. Average fuel consumption is approximately 4 500 bundles per year. After assessing the range of storage concepts, Hydro-Québec Production has selected the interim dry storage technology developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) because of the advantages it offers in the areas of environmental protection, nuclear and radiological safety, technological control and economics. AECL technology deals with two types of storage unit: silo and CANSTOR module. Interim storage may end when a permanent storage site becomes available in Canada. It is assumed that a site of this nature would be in operation in 2040 to receive our irradiated fuel.