TMI Fuel Characteristics for Disposal Criticality Analysis

This report documents the reported contents of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) canisters. proposed packaging, and degradation scenarios expected in the repository. Most fuels within the U.S. Department of Energy spent nuclear fuel inventory deal with highly enriched uranium, that in most cases require some form of neutronic poisoning inside the fuel canister. The TMI-2 fuel represents a departure from these fuel forms due to its lower enrichment (2.96% max.) values and the disrupted nature of the fuel itself. Criticality analysis of these fuel canisters has been performed over the years to reflect conditions expected during transit from the reactor to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, water pool storage,1 and transport/dry-pack storage at Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center.2,3 None of these prior analyses reflect the potential disposal conditions for this fuel inside a postclosure repository.