Dominion Installing Additional Used Fuel Storage at Nuclear Plants in Connecticut and Virginia

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Dominion (NYSE:D) (Richmond, Virginia) is installing additional used fuel storage systems at its 2,178-megawatt (MW) Millstone Nuclear Station, located in Waterford, Connecticut. This will allow the company to continue operating two units until the end of their license. The license for the 909 MW Millstone 2 unit ends in 2015. The license for the 1,253 MW Millstone 3 unit ends in 2025. The Millstone site was granted permission to add (49) storage modules, with provisions that if they received the license extension that they can appeal to the Connecticut Siting Council for the additional (86) that would be needed for an additional 20 years of operation for each unit.

At the 1,720 MW Surry Nuclear Station in Surry, Virginia, a third pad will be added. The additional storage space will not only hold the additional used fuel to present end of plant life permit, but will also handle the 20 year life extension as well. The 860 MW Surry 1 unit permit expires in 2012. The 860 Surry unit 2 permit expires in 2013. The storage modules are horizontal and each hold canisters that take about 3,300 cubic feet of space. Surry has been utilizing Horizontal Transnuclear TN 32 Casks on its second pad and will be utilizing NUHOMS for the balance of units.

A canister depending on design holds (24-72) fuel assemblies in each, and each canister fits in a single cask. During normal refueling about 25% to 33% of the unit's fuel assemblies are replaced every (1-2) years, with the spent fuel going into a pool that has at least 20 feet of water above the rods. Dry Cask Storage was developed in the 1980's due to the delay of the Yucca Mountain project, as the nuclear plants were running out of used fuel storage space. The fuel is usually stored and cooled in a pool for at least a year, then can be transferred to another location or stored on site, with the fuel put in a container (steel cylinders) filled with an inert gas and bolted or welded shut to prevent leakage. These casks or canisters are then installed in either a vertical or horizontal manner, in additional steel, concrete, or other material that will shield workers and the public from radiation.

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