Chapelcross MkV Fuel Transport Study
Serco TAS was commissioned by BNFL Magnox Generation to produce a new nuclear criticality transport safety assessment for irradiated Chapelcross fuel. A particular objective was to maximise the allowable flask payload and thereby minimise the number of flask movements needed to transport all the spent fuel to Sellafield. Chapelcross power station used low enriched uranium fuel and so the work started by using the ANSWERS Reactor Physics code WIMS for burn-up calculations to determine the variation of fuel rod reactivity with irradiation. WIMS calculations were also carried out to find the worst bounding case for fuel rods in water. The ANSWERS code MONK was then used to carry out the full range of detailed nuclear criticality safety calculations for the Transport Assessment. Further work was then carried out to produce compatible criticality safety cases for other parts of the fuel discharge route at Chapelcross