Abstract
Under the research reactor conversion Project, the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been working on the issue of the further handling the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) unloaded from the IVG.1M reactor. One of the critical stages is the transportation of the spent fuel assemblies (SFAs) to the storage or processing place, which should comply with the “Rules for the Transportation of Radioactive Substances and Radioactive Waste”, approved by the order of the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In this work, the safe parameters of the SFAs unloaded from the IVG.1M reactor core have been determined to ensure the SNF safe transportation to the storage or processing point. The neutronic calculations have been carried out to substantiate the nuclear safety during the storage of the IVG.1M SFAs in a universal casing for TUK-19 under the normal conditions and in the case of an emergency caused by the casing complete flooding. The thermal state of the SFAs was determined, taking into account the data on the reduction of the residual heat generation. An assessment of the thermal and radiation condition of the TUK-19 external surface with the SFAs has been performed. The experience gained in handling the SNF of a research reactor will be in demand when developing recommendations for handling the SNF of power reactors at future Kazakhstani nuclear power plants.