Hazardous or toxic waste destruction or containment – Destruction or containment of radioactive waste – Surrounding with specified material or structure
Patent
1997-07-10
1999-12-28
Mai, Ngoclan
Hazardous or toxic waste destruction or containment
Destruction or containment of radioactive waste
Surrounding with specified material or structure
588 3, 376272, 2505061, G21F 900
Patent
active
060084286
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a method and a device for the storage of hazardous waste, particularly radioactive waste, such as, for example, spent nuclear fuel rods and the like, which may require storing in a safe manner for a long time, such as for decades or even centuries.
Storage in accordance with the invention may take place both for so-called final storage and for temporary storage, i.e. in cases where it may be desired to process or recycle the waste after it has been stored for a shorter or longer period of time.
WO 91/05351 discloses a system for the offshore storage of the kind indicated above. This system comprises primary storage units in the shape of cylindrical concrete bodies having a central cavity for receiving waste and a secondary storage unit in the shape of a substantially larger concrete structure adapted to be submerged to a storage site on the seabed and to receive in the submerged position a large number of the primary storage units. Both the primary storage units and the secondary storage units have flotation or ballast tanks which may be filled with water or emptied so that the units may be transported on the water surface to the storage site where they may be submerged or made to rise to the surface again.
The storage units with which the present invention is concerned in some respects resemble the storage units of the prior art system, e.g. because the primary storage unit is a concrete body having a central cavity for the waste and passages for a flowing coolant which are arranged about the central cavity. Accordingly, the present invention may be regarded as being based on the prior art technique disclosed in the above-mentioned publication.
The invention will be described in greater detail below, reference being had to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings which show an exemplary embodiment of a primary storage unit and a secondary storage unit.
FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of a primary storage unit;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line II--II in FIG. 1, of the primary storage unit;
FIG. 3 is an axial sectional view of a secondary storage unit;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line II--II in FIG. 1, of the secondary storage unit.
As shown in FIG. 1 the primary storage unit 10 is comprised of an essentially cylindrical (or slightly conical) steel-reinforced concrete body 11, a container assembly 12 completely enclosed in the concrete body and consisting of a circular-cylindrical tubular vessel 13 which is concentric with the concrete body, and a system 14 of tubes which communicate with the interior space of the vessel. The container assembly is made of a corrosion resistant material, preferably stainless steel or copper.
The primary storage unit 10, contains, within the vessel 13, a circular-cylindrical metal capsule A containing the hazardous waste to be stored, such as spent nuclear fuel rods. Supporting and locating members (not shown) keep this container centred in the vessel 13 such that there is an annular gap B around the container and the inner wall of the vessel. The space within the vessel which is not occupied by the capsule A, and also the system 14 of tubes, are filled with a liquid coolant which can circulate convectively through the vessel around the capsule A and the system 14 of tubes.
The container assembly 12 is hermetically sealed and completely embedded in the concrete from which the jointless concrete body 11 is made. Consequently, there are no passages which may convey fluid between the outer side of the concrete body 11 and the outer side of the container assembly 12 or between the interior of the container assembly 12 and the surrounding concrete.
The ends of the tubular vessel 13 are closed by a lower, substantially conical end wall 16 and an upper, cupola-like end wall 17. The upper end wall 17 has been applied, preferably by welding, after insertion of the capsule A in the vessel 13.
The system 14 of tubes is made up of a large number of C-shaped tubes 18, each comprising a section 18A extending in parallel
REFERENCES:
patent: 4257912 (1981-03-01), Fleischer et al.
patent: 4634875 (1987-01-01), Kugeler et al.
patent: 5327469 (1994-07-01), Georgii
Hydro Betong AB
Mai Ngoclan
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