METHOD FOR CONTROLLING TEMPERATURE OF HERMETIC CONTAINER HOUSING RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCE AND SYSTEM AND FACILITY FOR STORING THE HERMETIC CONTAINER

• Main Authors: MATSUNAGA KENICHI, ASADA KAZUO, IRINO MITSUHIRO, ABE IWAJI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 19.07.2002
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: DECONTAMINATION ARRANGEMENTS THEREFOR; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING; NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR REACTORS; PHYSICS; PROTECTION AGAINST X-RADIATION, GAMMA RADIATION, CORPUSCULARRADIATION OR PARTICLE BOMBARDMENT; TREATING RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED MATERIAL

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for controlling the temperature of a hermetic container that can store radioactive substances safely and stably over a long period, a system for storing the hermetic container and an intermediate storage facility. SOLUTION: A canister 14 filled with the radioactive substances is stowed in a concrete container 12 of a concrete cask 10. After the air introduced from a suction port 26 placed at the lower end of a concrete container to it flows in a cooling air flow channel 24 around the canister to cool it, the air is exhausted from an exhaust port 28 in the upper part of the concrete container. The system for storing the hermetic container is equipped with a temperature detector 62 that detects the temperature at the lower end of the canister and shields that can be mounted both on the suction port and the exhaust port respectively. The opening areas of the suction port and the exhaust port are reduced by mounting the shields on both the ports according to the detected temperature to control the amount of natural ventilation flowing in the cooling air flow channel 24, whereby the temperature on the outer surface of the lower end of the canister 14 is maintained both at the dew-point temperature or higher and at a prescribed heat resistance temperature or lower.