Dry rod consolidation technology at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 assigned the US Department of Energy (DOE) the task of assisting utilities with resolution of their near-term spent-fuel storage problems. EG G Idaho, Inc., under contract with DOE, at the Idaho national Engineering Laboratory (INEL), has performed dry horizontal consolidation of fuel rods from 48 Westinghouse 15 x 15 array pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel assemblies. Project objectives were to design, fabricate, test, and operate a nonproduction type machine to perform dry horizontal consolidation of fuel rods from 48 spent PWR fuel assemblies. Other objectives were to document information on the conditions and characteristics of the fuel and fuel assemblies and the consolidation process. This paper presents an overview of the project and major results and information obtained by the dry rod consolidation technology (DRCT) project.