Abstract
In this work, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics porous fuel region model of the TN-32B spent nuclear fuel (SNF) cask used in the High Burnup (HBU) demonstration project is constructed and simulations are conducted in ANSYS/Fluent to predict temperatures within the cask. The effect of the variation of multiple millimeter-scale gap widths on cask internal temperatures is investigated. The size of these gaps is influenced by both predictable and unpredictable factors. Forty simulations for various widths of nine gaps selected using the Latin Hypercube Sampling method are conducted to assess temperature uncertainties at 63 SNF locations. The results are compared to the HBU measurements. The gap width variation resulted in 95% confidence interval temperature uncertainties between ±12°C and ±21°C. Most measured temperatures, including peak cladding temperature, are within the predicted temperature confidence interval. The peripheral Basket/Rail gap has the largest effect on overall temperature uncertainty.
