Charles Messick
U.S. Department of Energy
Savannah River Site

Robert Stump
U.S. Department of Energy
Idaho Operations Office

Keith Brown
Science Applications International Corporation

The Record of Decision on a Proposed Nuclear Weapons Nonproliferation Policy Concerning Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel states that the United States will accept spent nuclear fuel containing uranium enriched in the U.S. from foreign research reactors. In order to aid in the planning for the implementation of this policy, the U.S. Department of Energy has sent assessment teams to visit several research reactors in Europe, Asia, and South America.

The purpose of these visits is to present the U.S. policy program requirements to the reactor operator and perform preliminary assessments of the spent fuel inventory, the condition of the fuel, and the equipment and capabilities of the facility to package and ship this spent fuel to the United States. Points of contact are also established at the facility, at other governmental agencies, and at the U.S. Embassy for each country visited.

Information gathered by the assessment teams is being used to determine eligibility, to measure interest on the part of the foreign research reactor operators in participation in the program, to establish packaging needs at the reactor facility, and to establish shipping priorities and schedules for the program.

On May 13, 1996, the U.S. Department of Energy adopted a 10-year policy to accept research reactor spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from other nations for management in the United States. The policy supports U.S. nuclear weapons nonproliferation objectives and demonstrates the continued commitment of the U.S. reduce and eventually eliminate highly enriched uranium from international commerce. The Record of Decision (ROD) on a Proposed Nuclear Weapons Nonproliferation Policy Concerning Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel states that the United States will accept spent nuclear fuel (SNF) containing uranium enriched in the U.S. from foreign research reactors (FRR).

Under this policy, the U.S. will accept both highly enriched uranium (HEU) and low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel satisfying the following conditions:

• Spent Nuclear fuel (HEU and/or LEU) from research reactors operating on LEU fuel or in the process of converting to LEU fuel when the policy became effective (May 13, 1996).
• Spent nuclear fuel (HEU and/or LEU) from research reactors that operated on HEU fuel when the policy became effective (May 13, 1996) but that formally commit to convert to LEU fuel. (Spent nuclear fuel will not be accepted from research reactors that could convert to LEU fuel but do not formally commit to do so).
• Spent nuclear fuel (HEU) from research reactors having lifetime cores, from research reactors planning to shut down by a specific date while the policy is in effect, and from research reactors for which a suitable LEU fuel is not available.
• Spent nuclear fuel (HEU and/or LEU) from research reactors that are already shut down.
• Unirradiated fuel (HEU and/or LEU) from eligible research reactors, which will be accepted as spent nuclear fuel.
• Medical isotope target material will be accepted only if the reactor operator wishing to ship target material formally commits to convert to the use of LEU targets, when such targets become available.

At the time the policy was adopted, the United States determined that spent nuclear fuel and irradiated medical isotope target material from 41 countries would be eligible for acceptance. The ROD further states that the United States would be responsible for the cost of transporting and managing the SNF from countries with other-than-high-income economies, but high-income economy countries are responsible for all costs to ship their SNF to the DOE management site and will be charged a competitive fee for managing the SNF.

The research reactor spent fuel covered by this policy generally falls into one of two categories, aluminum-based MTR (Materials Test Reactor) type fuel or TRIGA (Test, Research, Isotope General Atomics) fuel. The aluminum-based fuel will be managed at the DOE Savannah River Site (SRS) and the TRIGA fuel will be managed at the DOE Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL).

In order to aid in the planning for the implementation of this policy, DOE has sent assessment teams to visit several research reactors in countries with other-than-high-income economies, as well as research reactors in countries with high-income economies which have not previously shipped spent nuclear fuel. The core assessment teams are made up of representatives from DOE Savannah River Operations Office for aluminum-based fuel or DOE Idaho Operations Office for TRIGA fuel and contractor representatives from the DOE receiving site. Depending upon the countries to be visited and the issues involved, the assessment team may also include representatives from DOE Headquarters and its contractors, Department of State (DOS), Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program.

The purpose of these visits is to present the U.S. policy program requirements to the reactor operator and perform preliminary assessments of the spent fuel inventory, the condition of the fuel, and the equipment and capabilities of the facility to package and ship the spent fuel to the United States. Points of contact are also established at the facility, at other governmental agencies, and at the U.S. Embassy for each country visited.

Information gathered by the assessment teams is being used to determine eligibility and interest in participation in the program, to identify packaging needs at the reactor facility, and to establish shipping priorities and schedules for the program. Table I lists the foreign research reactors that have been visited by the assessment teams to date.

In order to standardize the information received from each reactor site, a reactor site assessment checklist, which is consistent with the DOE Implementation Strategy Plan for Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Shipments issued July 1, 1996, was developed for use by the assessment team during the visit. The following topics are addressed in the checklist in order to obtain information that could be useful in scheduling, making preparations for, and shipping spent nuclear fuel from the reactor facility.

• Identification of key reactor, institute, or licensing authority personnel to provide contact points during preparation and shipment.
• Status of any licensing or institutional approvals within the country or region necessary to ship the spent reactor fuel.
• Establishment of a contact at the U.S. Embassy in the country in which the reactor is located.
• Identification of the current fuel inventory quantities, and any corrosion concerns or other potential for ongoing releases of fission products from the stored fuel. A short description of the reactor, its utilization, and its operating schedule.
• If the reactor currently uses HEU fuel, identification of the plans and status of replacing the existing reactor core with a LEU fueled core. Verification that the spent nuclear fuel or target material is eligible for acceptance under the program.
• Description of the facilities that could be used to prepare and ship the spent fuel.
• Identification of any potential problem areas associated with making a fuel shipment.

In addition to the checklist, the reactor operator is usually provided with a draft copy of clauses and language that might applicable to a contract, including Appendix A (Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance Criteria) and Appendix B (Transport Package (Cask) Acceptance Criteria), if applicable, several weeks before the visit to allow time for the reactor operators to review and prepare for the assessment visit.

A typical site assessment visit will be initiated with an introduction of the delegation members representing the U.S. and the facility being visited. This introduction is followed by a presentation by the DOE team leader to provide a brief summary of the ROD and the DOE/DOS acceptance policy. During this briefing, the DOE presenter will stress to the FRR representatives that the delegation is not there to promote shutdown of their reactor, but to assist the FRR operators with their spent fuel management needs, consistent with the nuclear nonproliferation goals of the U.S. government to promote research reactor conversion to LEU fuels and eliminate HEU from civil commerce. DOE representatives also stress that the 10 year policy will allow the reactor operators time to plan for their own spent fuel management needs, and that there are no plans to extend the policy once it expires. Figure 1 shows members of the U.S. delegation meeting with reactor operators at the Josef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Following the introductory briefing the checklist is used to initiate the formal discussions. Each of the items on the checklist is reviewed in detail with the reactor operators to obtain the information requested and answer any questions that they may have.

The next step in the assessment process is a tour of the facilities that could be used to prepare and ship the spent fuel. Of particular interest on this tour are such items as:

• location and capacity of fuel storage locations
• capacities of cranes and other lifting devices
• floor loading limits for building and/or storage pools.
• facility access dimensions
• availability of transfer casks or other facility fuel handling devices
• facility accessibility for cask and equipment movement
• capability for removal of end-boxes and/or end-fittings from fuel assemblies
• other facility capabilities and limitations (e.g., repackaging capabilities, if necessary)

Photographs and videotapes are generally made during the tour to aid in the planning process for the fuel shipment. In particular any items that are potential problem areas would be documented. Figure 2 shows members of the U.S. delegation touring the TRIGA reactor facility in Pitesti, Romania.

Following the facility tour, the delegation generally splits into groups. The first group might conduct a detailed program requirements review including a review of contract language and clauses that might be applicable. They also might discuss a tentative return schedule with the reactor operators. The second group might review any safeguard and security issues with the fuel preparation and transport to the port of embarkation; and the third group could perform a detailed inspection of the spent fuel noting the overall condition of the fuel and identifying any conditions that would require further evaluation to determine if an assembly might require repackaging or encapsulation (canning) prior to shipment. The third group might also review the Appendix A data prepared by the reactor operators, to assure that they understand what is required and addressing any questions that they may have.

Meeting minutes are taken to document the proceedings of the site assessment with particular emphasis on issues and action items. If possible, a copy of the minutes are signed by the appropriate DOE/DOS/ACDA team members and the appropriate representatives of the host facility before closing the meeting. After completion of the assessment trip, DOE prepares and distributes a comprehensive report including a list of followup action items (with assignments) and initiates tracking to assure completion of the action items.

In addition to the reactor site assessments described above, DOE and/or its contractors will frequently conduct follow up visits to perform detailed planning necessary to ensure that all aspects of the fuel shipment can be performed smoothly and safely. This planning will include such items as detailed fuel inspections, and evaluations of the host country's transportation infrastructure and security capabilities.

The site assessment visits that have been performed to date have been instrumental in the planning and scheduling of foreign research reactor spent fuel shipments. Five shipments have been successfully completed in the first 18 months of the program. Future spent fuel shipments for which assessments visits have already been conducted include:

The results of the site assessment visits were used to determine eligibility and status of preparation which helped establish the priority and schedule for the shipments. Information exchanged during the visits was also valuable in assisting the reactor operators prepare for the shipments. In summary the site assessments have made a major contribution to the success that the program has enjoyed during the first year and one-half and will undoubtedly continue to provide this contribution.

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