This Safety Guide provides recommendations on how to meet the requirements of IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSR-2/1 (Rev. 1), Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design, in relation to fuel handling and storage systems. The publication addresses the design aspects of handling and storage systems for fuel that remain part of the operational activities of a nuclear reactor. It covers the following stages of fuel handling and storage in a nuclear power plant: receipt, storage and inspection of fresh fuel before use and transfer of fresh fuel into the reactor; removal of irradiated fuel from the reactor and transfer of the irradiated fuel to the spent fuel pool; and reinsertion of irradiated fuel from the spent fuel pool into the reactor. Recommendations are also provided on the storage, inspection and repair of irradiated or spent fuel in the spent fuel pool, and the preparation for the removal of this fuel from the spent fuel pool and on the handling of fuel casks in the spent fuel pool and on their transfer.

• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • Background
  • Objective
  • Scope
  • Structure
• 2. DESIGN OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN APPROACH
  • Management system
  • Fundamental safety functions
  • Design approach
    • Maintaining subcriticality of the fuel
    • Removal of the decay heat from irradiated fuel
    • Confinement of radioactive material and limitation of radioactive releases
    • Shielding against radiation
    • Interfaces of safety with security and safeguards
    • Proven engineering practices
    • Safety assessment in design process
    • Other considerations
• 3. DESIGN BASIS FOR STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS OF FUEL STORAGE
  • General
  • Defence in depth
  • Safety functions
  • Postulated initiating events
  • Internal hazards
    • Heavy load drop
    • Internal flooding in dry storage areas for fresh fuel
    • Pipe breaks
    • Fires
    • Explosions
  • External hazards
  • Plant conditions to be taken into account in design
    • Fuel storage capacity
    • Normal operation
    • Anticipated operational occurrences
    • Accident conditions
  • Design limits
  • Reliability
    • Reliability for operational states
    • Reliability for accident conditions
  • Structural integrity
  • Safety classification
  • Environmental qualification
  • Prevention of criticality
  • Radiation protection
  • Materials
  • Monitoring
  • Design of water purification systems for the spent fuel pool
  • Illumination equipment
• 4. DESIGN BASIS FOR EQUIPMENT AND COMPONENTS OF FUEL HANDLING SYSTEMS
  • General
  • Safety functions
  • Postulated initiating events
  • Internal hazards
  • External hazards
  • Design limits
  • Reliability
  • Strength analyses for items important to safety
  • Specific design recommendations
    • Specific design aspects for the refuelling machine
    • Specific design aspects for nuclear power plants with a fuel transfer system (pressurized water reactors)
  • Safety classification
  • Environmental qualification
  • Radiation protection
  • Materials
• 5. DESIGN BASIS FOR EQUIPMENT USED FOR INSPECTION AND REPAIR OF IRRADIATED FUEL, HANDLING OF DAMAGED FUEL, AND HANDLING AND STORAGE OF IRRADIATED CORE COMPONENTS
  • Equipment used for inspection and repair of irradiated fuel and handling of damaged fuel
    • Inspection equipment
    • Dismantling and reconstitution equipment
    • Handling equipment for damaged fuel
  • Handling and storage systems for irradiated core components
    • Irradiated core components
    • Neutron sources
    • Reusable reactor items
• 6. HANDLING OF FUEL CASKS
  • Design for facilitating the handling of casks for spent fuel
  • External hazards
  • Vehicles and cranes used in the transfer of fuel casks
• REFERENCES
• Annex OPERATING ASPECTS OF HANDLING SPENT FUEL CASKS
• CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW