June 10, 2019

Davis-Besse will be conducting another Dry Fuel Storage Campaign this year. Prior to that, additional storage modules are needed on the nuclear plant’s ISFSI (independent spent fuel storage installation) pad. Parts for the new horizontal storage modules (HSMs) began arriving at the site this week.

The plant’s eight existing HSMs arrived in one piece by train, but that’s not the case with the 12 new units. “We expect 62 loads of components arriving by truck from North Carolina over the next three weeks at a rate of about four per day,” said Project Manager Josh Schulte. The trucks will be almost twice the length of a normal semi-trailer, so changes are needed to get them into the Protected Area. A very large crane, a heavy-duty forklift and several sealands of equipment needed for HSM assembly are also  on site.

Assembly of the HSMs is expected to be complete in late July. Extra planning is being done to minimize radiation dose during the job due to the previously loaded HSMs already on the pad. “We’ll be using concrete T-walls and jersey barriers to keep our dose ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) and keep folks away from loaded HSMs,” Josh said.

Deliveries are being coordinated to begin after most employees are at work and complete before the end of the work day to minimize the impact on the site. “Spotters will be positioned to advise people when it’s safe to walk through the area,” added Josh. Loading used fuel into the new HSMs won’t begin until later this fall.