Syllabus Coverage: NFC3.2, NFC3.3
The extremely high radioactivity of irradiated fuel means it must be handled using specialised remote techniques. In a commercial gas-cooled reactor, fuel is removed using a refuelling/defuelling machine that is heavily shielded and fully automatic, preventing any human contact with the fuel.
After removal from the reactor, the fuel is transported remotely to an on-site storage area where it is kept for several months or more. This cooling period allows:
- The short-lived fission products to decay, reducing total activity
- The decay heat to decrease, reducing cooling requirements
- Shielding requirements during subsequent transport to be reduced
Two basic storage types are used: pool (wet) storage and dry storage.