Feasibility and Incentives for Burnup Credit in Spent-Fuel Transport Casks

The spent-fuel carrying capacities of previous-generation spent-fuel shipping casks have been primarily thermal and/or shielding limited. Shielding and heat transfer requirements for casks designed to transport older spent fuel with longer decay times are reduced considerably and cask capacities become criticality limited. Using burnup credit in the design of future casks can result in increased cask capacities as well as reduced environmental impacts and savings in time and money.