Non-Destructive Evaluation of Nuclear Waste Storage Cask

The longevity requirements and number of dry storage systems, employed for storage of used nuclear fuel, necessitate the deployment of sensor technologies to support aging management programs and ensure safe disposal of used nuclear fuel at the end of dry storage terms. This effort seeks to increase the value and effectiveness of dry storage system inspections with the application of readily available technologies to gain significant information regarding the state of the internal canister structural integrity or environmental conditions. Global Technology Connection, Inc. GTC), in collaboration with its partners Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Savannah River National Laboratory & NAC) , proposes to address the surveillance needs of dry storage systems already deployed in the field as well as future systems. The team will develop methods for sensing internal cask parameters using externally mounted ultrasonic sensors for currently deployed dry storage systems. For future cask systems, the team will focus on demonstrating a framework to enable monitoring of internal cask parameters with greater fidelity through the use of sensors mounted inside of dry storage systems and acoustic modems to transmit information through container walls without the need for penetration. In total, this represents a comprehensive approach to addressing the needs for monitoring the state of used fuel in long term dry storage and will have tremendous public benefit. The Phase I efforts will focus on identifying ultrasonic techniques using externally mounted sensors for measuring variables of interest inside of dry storage systems and determining design criteria for application of identified techniques to currently deployed dry storage systems. In addition, tabulation of readily available sensing technologies that meet the requirements for placement inside of dry storage systems will be created and a down-select process will identify a few candidate sensing technologies from this list that will be used to demonstrate in Phase II. The resulting technology from this effort can be applied to wide range of applications employed for monitoring of machinery and structural components. The commercial intent is to produce low-rate production quantities for commercial markets. Potential commercial applications include diagnostics/prognostics of machinery and structural health monitoring.