Comparative economics for DUCRETE spent fuel storage cask handling, transportation, and capital requirements

This report summarizes economic differences between a DUCRETE spent nuclear fuel storage cask and a conventional concrete storage cask in the areas of handling, transportation, and capital requirements. The DUCRETE cask is under evaluation as a new technology that could substantially reduce the overall costs of spent fuel and depleted U disposal. DUCRETE incorporates depleted U in a Portland cement mixture and functions as the cask`s primary radiation barrier. The cask system design includes insertion of the US DOE Multi-Purpose Canister inside the DUCRETE cask. The economic comparison is from the time a cask is loaded in a spent fuel pool until it is placed in the repository and includes the utility and overall US system perspectives.