Developing Solutions to Regional Latin America’s Spent Fuel Needs: Supporting the IAEA Mission

Several countries in regional Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru, have active nuclear programs. Most of these programs involve small research reactors typically used to create various isotopes for medical and research purposes. Until recently, the highly radioactive spent fuel from these reactors was transported to the United States when it was removed from the various reactor sites. The United States has decided to cease acceptance of these waste materials, thereby requiring these Latin American countries to develop their own methods for dealing with the highly radioactive materials. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the arm of the United Nations (UN) that deals with all forms of radioactive materials from weapons inspections to nuclear reactor safety, has undertaken a leadership role in the development of regional Latin America’s spent fuel storage/disposal plan. Acting as an IAEA mission expert, the author of this paper has aided in the development of the teams responsible for the development of both a Type B transportation cask and a long-term storage cask for these materials. This paper will discuss the overall scope and current status of these projects as well as detail the involvement of the author in helping to develop the ability of the design team members to find viable solutions to this problem.