Successful Completion of the Largest Shipment of Russian Research Reactor High-Enriched Uranium Spent Nuclear Fuel from Czech Republic to Russian Federation

On December 8, 2007, the largest shipment of high-enriched uranium spent nuclear fuel was successfully made from a Russian-designed nuclear research reactor in the Czech Republic to the Russian Federation. This accomplishment is the culmination of years of planning, negotiations, and hard work. The United States, Russian Federation, and the International Atomic Energy Agency have been working together on the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return (RRRFR) Program in support of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative. In February 2003, RRRFR Program representatives met with the Nuclear Research Institute in Rež, Czech Republic, and discussed the return of their high-enriched uranium spent nuclear fuel to the Russian Federation for reprocessing. Nearly 5 years later, the shipment was made. This paper discusses the planning, preparations, coordination, and cooperation required to make this important international shipment

Russian-Origin Highly Enriched Uranium Spent Nuclear Fuel Shipment From Bulgaria

In July 2008, the Global Threat Reduction Initiative and the IRT 2000 research reactor in Sofia, Bulgaria, operated by the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE), safely shipped 6.4 kilograms of Russian origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) to the Russian Federation. The shipment, which resulted in the removal of all HEU from Bulgaria, was conducted by truck, barge, and rail modes of transport across two transit countries before reaching the final destination at the Production Association Mayak facility in Chelyabinsk, Russia. This paper describes the work, equipment, organizations, and approvals that were required to complete the spent fuel shipment and provides lessons learned that might assist other research reactor operators with their own spent nuclear fuel shipments

Air Shipment of Spent Nuclear Fuel from Romania to Russia

Romania successfully completed the world’s first air shipment of spent nuclear fuel transported in Type B(U) casks under existing international laws and without shipment license special exceptions when the last Romanian highly enriched uranium (HEU) spent nuclear fuel was transported to the Russian Federation in June 2009. This air shipment required the design, fabrication, and licensing of special 20 foot freight containers and cask tiedown supports to transport the eighteen TUK 19 shipping casks on a Russian commercial cargo aircraft. The new equipment was certified for transport by road, rail, water, and air to provide multi modal transport capabilities for shipping research reactor spent fuel. The equipment design, safety analyses, and fabrication were performed in the Russian Federation and transport licenses were issued by both the Russian and Romanian regulatory authorities. The spent fuel was transported by truck from the VVR S research reactor to the Bucharest airport, flown by commercial cargo aircraft to the airport at Yekaterinburg, Russia, and then transported by truck to the final destination in a secure nuclear facility at Chelyabinsk, Russia. This shipment of 23.7 kg of HEU was coordinated by the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return Program (RRRFR), as part of the U.S. Department of Energy Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), in close cooperation with the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and was managed in Romania by the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN). This paper describes the planning, shipment preparations, equipment design, and license approvals that resulted in the safe and secure air shipment of this spent nuclear fuel

AIR SHIPMENT OF HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL FROM ROMANIA AND LIBYA

In June 2009 Romania successfully completed the world’s first air shipment of highly enriched uranium (HEU) spent nuclear fuel transported in Type B(U) casks under existing international laws and without special exceptions for the air transport licenses. Special 20-foot ISO shipping containers and cask tiedown supports were designed to transport Russian TUK 19 shipping casks for the Romanian air shipment and the equipment was certified for all modes of transport, including road, rail, water, and air. In December 2009 Libya successfully used this same equipment for a second air shipment of HEU spent nuclear fuel. Both spent fuel shipments were transported by truck from the originating nuclear facilities to nearby commercial airports, were flown by commercial cargo aircraft to a commercial airport in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and then transported by truck to their final destinations at the Production Association Mayak facility in Chelyabinsk, Russia. Both air shipments were performed under the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return Program (RRRFR) as part of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI). The Romania air shipment of 23.7 kg of HEU spent fuel from the VVR S research reactor was the last of three HEU fresh and spent fuel shipments under RRRFR that resulted in Romania becoming the 3rd RRRFR participating country to remove all HEU. Libya had previously completed two RRRFR shipments of HEU fresh fuel so the 5.2 kg of HEU spent fuel air shipped from the IRT 1 research reactor in December made Libya the 4th RRRFR participating country to remove all HEU. This paper describes the equipment, preparations, and license approvals required to safely and securely complete these two air shipments of spent nuclear fuel

The Planning, Licensing, Modifications, and Use of a Russian Vessel for Shipping Spent Nuclear Fuel by Sea in Support of the DOE RRRFR Program

The Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return (RRRFR) Program, under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative, began returning Russian-supplied high-enriched uranium (HEU) spent nuclear fuel (SNF), stored at Russian-designed research reactors throughout the world, to Russia in January 2006. During the first years of making HEU SNF shipments, it became clear that the modes of transportation needed to be expanded from highway and railroad to include sea and air to meet the extremely aggressive commitment of completing the first series of shipments by the end of 2010. The first shipment using sea transport was made in October 2008 and used a non-Russian flagged vessel. The Russian government reluctantly allowed a one-time use of the foreign-owned vessel into their highly secured seaport, with the understanding that any future shipments would be made using a vessel owned and operated by a Russian company. ASPOL-Baltic of St. Petersburg, Russia, owns and operates a small fleet of vessels and has a history of shipping nuclear materials. ASPOL-Baltic’s vessels were licensed for shipping nuclear materials; however, they were not licensed to transport SNF materials. After a thorough review of ASPOL Baltic’s capabilities and detailed negotiations, it was agreed that a contract would be let with ASPOL-Baltic to license and refit their MCL Trader vessel for hauling SNF in support of the RRRFR Program. This effort was funded through a contract between the RRRFR Program, Idaho National Laboratory, and Radioactive Waste Management Plant of Swierk, Poland. This paper discusses planning, Russian and international maritime regulations and requirements, Russian authorities’ reviews and approvals, licensing, design, and modifications made to the vessel in preparation for SNF shipments. A brief summary of actual shipments using this vessel, experiences, and lessons learned also are described