FUEL CYCLE APPLICATIONS WITH THE DATA STORED WITHIN THE UNIFIED DATABASE

摘要

The Unified Database within the Used Nuclear Fuel Storage, Transportation & Disposal Analysis Resource and Data System (UNF-ST&DARDS) contains information that can support a variety of activities. These activities such as fuel cycle-related evaluations are based on spent nuclear fuel (SNF) characteristics as input. The main datasets stored within the Unified Database include a number of attributes related to existing facilities, federal government radioactive waste, future facilities, transportation infrastructure, SNF assembly-specific data, cask/canisters, and economics. These datasets contain a vast amount of information that can be used for multiple applications, including fuel cycle transitional analysis and cost/benefit analysis for different SNF disposition strategies and can facilitate comparisons of fuel cycle transition options. The SNF inventory data can be applied per assembly and per site for informed decision-making on fuel cycle planning issues such as considering the type and quantity of SNF available from nearby nuclear power plants when siting a reprocessing facility. Examples of factors that could be considered and evaluated include: minimizing the shipping distance of SNF, proliferation risk, and resource utilization. Probably the largest advantage for using the Unified Database for fuel cycle analysis is to ensure that future U.S. fuel cycle analysis that may wish to use the legacy SNF material can do so from the same common set of data.