The scientific backing of the German quiver project

Wolfgang Faber, Marc Verwerft, Janne Pakarinen, Hagen Höfer, Christoph Rirschl

    Research outputpeer-review

    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 languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)561-570
    Number of pages10
    JournalATW- International Journal of Nuclear Power
    Volume65
    Issue number11-12
    StatePublished - 1 Dec 2020

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