1 ! ! ! ! "#$ % "#$ % "#$ % "#$ % "#! &’($% "#! &’($% "#! &’($% "#! &’($% STORAGE AND TRANSPORT OF SPENT FUEL FROM GHANA RESEARCH REACTOR-1 FOR CONVERSION FROM HIGHLY-ENRICHED URANIUM TO LOW-ENRICHED URANIUM FUEL E. Ampomah-Amoako, E. H. K. Akaho, B. J. B. Nyarko, K. A. Danso, R. G. Abrefah, R. B. M. Sogbadji, H. C. Odoi, S. A. Birikorang, K. Gyamfi Nuclear Engineering and Materials Science Department National Nuclear Research Institute Ghana Atomic Energy Commission P. O. Box LG 80, Legon-Accra – Ghana J. E. Matos, E. Sai-Chi Mo GTRI Program, Nuclear Engineering Division Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439-4803 – USA ABSTRACT Ghana Research Reactor-1 is a Miniature Neutron Source Reactor that is currently fueled with highly-enriched uranium aluminium alloy fuel. Efforts are underway to convert the core to a low- enriched uranium oxide fuel through the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Coordinated Research Project on Core Conversion. The temporal storage of the spent fuel which shall be replaced with fresh low-enriched fuel in the pool of the reactor facility is discussed. The process for the transport of the spent fuel confined in a cask and the precautions that are required by regulations of the Radiation Protection Board of Ghana and the International Maritime Authority are jointly discussed to ensure adherence to the protocols instituted for such an activity. The various regimes available for such a transaction are reviewed and recommendations are made to provide a basis for selecting the possible option for the transport of the spent fuel of the facility. INTRODUCTION Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) is a Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR). GHARR–1 is a commercial MNSR reactor similar to the Canadian SLOWPOKE in design [1]. It is a 30 kW tank-in- pool reactor, producing a peak or maximum thermal neutron flux in the core and its inner irradiation channels of 1 × 10 12 ncm -2 s -1 . The reactor is designed to be compact and safe and it is used mainly for The submitted manuscript has been created by UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne National Laboratory (“Argonne”). Argonne, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The U.S. Government retains for itself, and others acting on its behalf, a paid-up nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in said article to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government. Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA's) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.