Patent Number: 045270660
Section: summary

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a concrete shielding housing for receiving and storing a fuel element container filled with spent nuclear reactor fuel elements. The container is suitable for transport and storage. The outer dimensions of the container are somewhat smaller than the clear interior dimensions of the concrete shielding housing. The concrete shielding housing has a pallet-like base, a concrete shielding wall placeable on the base, and a cover which can be placed atop the upper end of the concrete shielding wall. At the lower region of the concrete shielding housing, at least one air inlet opening is provided and, in the upper region of the concrete shielding housing, at least one air outlet opening is provided. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In efforts to provide a temporary storage for fuel element containers in the open, it has been suggested to accommodate the containers in silo-like housings made of concrete or steel-reinforced concrete. The silo-like housings can be of different configurations and each is suitable for accommodating one fuel element container. In one configuration of a shielding housing for receiving fuel element containers, the shielding housing is provided with lateral air inlet passages at the lower end of the concrete shielding wall and lateral air outlet passages in the region of the upper end of the shielding wall beneath the cover. With this arrangement of the air inlet and air outlet openings, a natural ventilation within the housing is obtained for directing away heat produced by the radioactive decay of materials stored in the container. The base of the concrete shielding housing is configured as a separate pallet which can be moved about from one location to another with the aid, for example, of a fork-lift truck. The fuel element container and the concrete shielding wall of the concrete shielding housing can be set down upon this base. The pallet-like base makes it possible to move the entire concrete shielding housing and container to a location on the storage field after the fuel element container is delivered and the concrete shielding housing is put together. Again, a suitable vehicle for moving this entity from one location to another could be, for example, a fork-lift truck. The storage field is preferably in the open air and is therefore subjected to the weather elements. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a concrete shielding housing of the type referred to above wherein the surface water which collects on the surface of the concrete shielding housing during a rainfall can be run off. The concrete shielding housing according to the invention includes a pallet-like base and a concrete shielding wall placeable upon the base. A removable cover is placeable atop the shielding wall. The outer dimensions of the container are somewhat smaller than the clear interior dimensions of the housing. According to a feature of the invention, the base has a plan profile smaller than the plan profile of the concrete shielding wall whereby the shielding wall overlaps the base when placed thereon. By constructing the pallet-like base pursuant to the invention as described above, the water collecting on the outer surface of the concrete shielding housing can run off and drip from the overlapping concrete shielding wall to the ground. This advantageous runoff of water minimizes the disadvantageous effects of the weather elements. A further significant advantage of the invention is that this configuration enables the transporting corridor in the container field to be dimensioned narrower. In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is a feature to provide air inlet means formed at the lower end of the concrete shielding wall in the region of the latter overlapping the pallet-like base. The air inlet means are in the form of segment-like inner recesses arranged at the lower end of the concrete shielding wall. With this configuration, the conventional radial air inlet openings can be dispensed with. A further minimization of the radiation emanating from the shielding housing is an additional advantageous consequence of this arrangement. The simplification in the production of the air inlet openings is likewise a significant advantage. The invention achieves advantageous runoff of the surface water from the concrete shielding housing and permits the transport corridors in the container storage field to be made narrower.