Abstract
The paper describes the general technological context of the German utilities facing issues related to bringing defective fuel rods in dry storage and in particular focuses on the research project, conducted at SCK CEN that served as scientific backing of the industrial solution. The feasibility of effectively removing water from soaked fuel by heat assisted vacuum drying in practical times was demonstrated. The governing parameters were identified: the hydraulic radius constituted by the difficult free path of vapor or gas through the fuel stack, the length of the stack along which vapor, or gas, has to be transported as well as the temperature applied to the fuel rod. Moreover, quantitative measurement of water removal rates showed that in the temperature-regime studied here water vapor flow can be described by laminar flow rule, allowing a quantitative assessment of drying times.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 561-570 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | ATW- International Journal of Nuclear Power |
Volume | 65 |
Issue number | 11-12 |
State | Published - 1 Dec 2020 |