Patent Number: 045270686
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 clear interior dimensions of the concrete shielding housing are somewhat larger than the outer dimensions of the fuel element container. The concrete shielding housing has a pallet-like base and at least one air inlet opening in the lower region of the housing and at least one air outlet opening in the upper region of the housing. 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. In one type of concrete shielding housing, lateral air inlet passages are provided at the lower edge of the housing wall and lateral air outlet passages are provided at the upper edge of the wall underneath the cover. The base of the concrete shielding housng is configured as a separate pallet which can be moved about from one location to another with 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 on this base. By means of the arrangement of the air inlet and air outlet passages in the concrete shielding housing, a natural ventilation within the housing is obtained for directing away heat produced by the radioactive decay of the materials stored in the container. In the above-mentioned concrete shielding housing, the base plate of the pallet-like base of the concrete shielding housing is provided with axial bores which extend clear through the base plate and serve as additional air inlet openings. Should moisture form in the interior of the concrete shielding housing, this can be conducted downwardly away from the interior of the housing through these bores. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a concrete shielding housing of the type referred to above wherein an uncontrolled conduction of moisture from the interior of the housing to the ground or to the floor of the storage facility is prevented. The concrete shielding housing according to the invention includes a pallet-like base having a base plate. The housing has clear interior dimensions somewhat larger than the outer dimensions of the container. Air inlet means are formed in the lower portion of the housing for admitting air into the interior thereof and air outlet means are formed in the upper portion of the housing body for conducting the air away from the housing interior to the ambient. According to a feature of the invention, bore means are formed in the base plate and collection means are arranged beneath the base plate. This collection means communicates with the bore means for receiving and collecting the moisture formed in the interior of the housing. The bore means can include at least one axial bore which extends clear through the base plate. The collection means can be in the form of a collection pan which is mounted beneath the base plate of the pallet-like base. The axial bores in the base plate serve on the one hand for ventilating the interior of the housing and, on the other hand, to conduct moisture to the collection pan which has formed in or penetrated the interior of the housing. By means of the arrangement of the collecting pan, contaminated moisture can be collected and its seepage into the ground prevented. According to another feature of the invention, the collection pan is configured so as to have a location of lowest elevation and a drain plug threadably engages the pan at this location. The collected moisture can in this way be drained from the pan into a transportable container.