2009 Report to Government on National Research and

capability exists in the UK for doing this and a substantial programme of R&D will
be needed in order <strong>to</strong> pursue the dry s<strong>to</strong>rage option.
A.27 There has been much R&D in other countries on the conditioning and packaging
of LWR spent fuel for geological disposal but there are significant differences
between these fuels and AGR fuel (CoRWM docs. 2480, 2520, 2533). It is of
some concern that relatively little R&D has been undertaken in<strong>to</strong> the conditioning
and packaging of AGR spent fuel for geological disposal (e.g. CoRWM doc.
2520). NDA has investigated whether the Swedish KBS-3 concept could be
adapted for this purpose and has identified R&D requirements for such
adaptation (CoRWM doc. 2630). Another possibility worth investigating could be
the encapsulation of AGR fuel pins in lead, as has been proposed (Gibb et al.,
2008) as a prelude <strong>to</strong> the geological disposal of LWR spent fuel pins. Other
issues likely <strong>to</strong> be important include the type of canister <strong>to</strong> be used and the
leaching behaviour of the fuel once it comes in<strong>to</strong> contact with groundwater.
A.28 Without demonstrating that geological disposal of AGR spent fuel is feasible,
AGR fuel strategies are incomplete. Given the amount of spent AGR fuel likely <strong>to</strong>
require disposal and the fact that it is almost unique <strong>to</strong> the UK, it would be
sensible <strong>to</strong> give AGR fuel priority in any NDA/RWMD R&D programme in<strong>to</strong> the
geological disposal of spent fuels, including transport <strong>to</strong> a GDF.
PWR Fuel
A.29 PWR fuel consists of low-enriched uranium oxide pellets in a zircaloy cladding. At
present it is used in the UK only at Sizewell B, where the spent fuel is s<strong>to</strong>red in
the fuel pond. Over the scheduled 40-year lifetime of the reac<strong>to</strong>r it is expected <strong>to</strong>
generate around 1,200 tHM of spent fuel (Defra & NDA, 2008b), which remains
the responsibility of British Energy. British Energy has no plans <strong>to</strong> reprocess
Sizewell B spent fuel (CoRWM doc. 2489). It is currently seeking <strong>to</strong> increase the
approved capacity of the Sizewell s<strong>to</strong>rage pond by re-racking but the potential for
further increase is limited.
A.30 British Energy is currently investigating dry s<strong>to</strong>rage (CoRWM docs. 2419, 2489)
with a view <strong>to</strong> having “dry cask” s<strong>to</strong>rage (para A.35) on site at Sizewell by 2015.
Drying of PWR fuel is much simpler than drying Magnox or AGR fuel because of
its robust zircaloy cladding. PWR spent fuel is dry s<strong>to</strong>red in several other
countries, particularly the USA, and British Energy sees an opportunity <strong>to</strong> buy
in<strong>to</strong> 'off the shelf' technology. A further issue relates <strong>to</strong> the fate of the s<strong>to</strong>red
spent fuel. There will need <strong>to</strong> be R&D on conditioning and packaging Sizewell B
spent fuel for geological disposal, and this should take in<strong>to</strong> account the extensive
research carried out in other countries on geological disposal of PWR fuels.
Exotic Fuels
A.31 Metal, oxide and carbide fuels from a number of experimental and other reac<strong>to</strong>rs,
such as the Windscale Piles and the Dounreay Fast Reac<strong>to</strong>r (DFR) and
Pro<strong>to</strong>type Fast Reac<strong>to</strong>r (PFR), are grouped <strong>to</strong>gether as ‘exotic’ fuels. Baseline
plans for the management of these exist but are poorly underpinned by R&D
(CoRWM doc. 2520) and the NDA is now developing an exotic fuels strategy
(CoRWM doc. 2624). Dealing with such a wide range of materials is a complex
problem and it is a matter of some urgency <strong>to</strong> identify the preferred options for
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