Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel, the apparatus comprising:a plurality of wall plates arranged in an intersecting manner to define a basket apparatus extending along a longitudinal axis, the basket apparatus comprising a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of flux traps between adjacent ones of the fuel cells; anda plurality of reinforcement members positioned in the flux traps and extending between opposing ones of the wall plates that form the flux traps;wherein each of the wall plates is a slotted wall plate, the slotted wall plates interlocked with one another to form the basket apparatus;wherein each of the slotted wall plates comprises an upper edge, a lower edge, and a plurality of plate slots formed in each of the upper and lower edges, the plate slots of each of the slotted wall plates receiving intersecting ones of the slotted wall plates;wherein each of the slotted wall plates further comprises a plurality of reinforcement slots in at least one of the upper edge or the lower edge, the reinforcement slots of the slotted wall plates receiving flange portions of the reinforcement members. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein for each of the slotted wall plates, the plate slots have a first height and the reinforcement slots have a second height, the second height being less than the first height. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the reinforcement members comprise a body portion and first and second flange portions protruding from opposite sides of the body portion; and wherein for each of the reinforcement members: (1) the first and second flange portions nest within the reinforcement slots of the opposing ones of the slotted wall plates between which the reinforcement member extends; and (2) the body portion abuts outer surfaces of the opposing ones of the slotted wall plates between which the reinforcement member extends, thereby maintaining a fixed distance between the opposing ones of the slotted wall plates between which the reinforcement member extends. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein for each of the slotted wall plates, the plates slots and the reinforcement slots are arranged in a pattern comprising a repeating sequence of:reinforcement slot>plate slot>plate slot. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the fuel cells comprises a fuel cell axis that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the basket apparatus; and wherein for each adjacent pair of the fuels cells, a longitudinal reference plane that extends between and includes the fuel axes of the pair of the fuels cells intersects at least one of the reinforcement members. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the reinforcement members comprises a first set of the reinforcement members and a second set of the reinforcement members; and wherein the first set of the reinforcement members are located adjacent a top end of the basket apparatus and the second set of the reinforcement members are located adjacent a bottom end of the basket apparatus. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein a first transverse reference plane intersects each of the reinforcement members of the first set and a second transverse reference plane intersects each of the reinforcement members of the second set; wherein a third transverse reference plane exits between the first and second transverse reference planes; and wherein the third transverse reference plane does not intersect any of the reinforcement members. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the reinforcement members comprise a flat plate that extends substantially orthogonal to the opposing ones of the wall plates between which the reinforcement member extends. 9. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising:the wall plates including a plurality of first wall plates, a plurality of second wall plates, and a plurality of third wall plates;the first wall plates forming a top-most axial section of the basket apparatus;the third wall plates forming a bottom-most axial section of the basket apparatus;the second wall plates forming one or more middle axial sections of the basket apparatus;wherein the second wall plates are formed of a metal matrix material having neutron absorbing particulate reinforcement; andwherein the first and third wall plates are formed of stainless steel. 10. The apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the reinforcement members are formed of stainless steel and are located only in portions of the flux traps formed by the top-most axial section and the bottom-most axial section of the basket apparatus. 11. The apparatus according to claim 9 further comprising a plurality of fuel assemblies comprising a plurality of spent nuclear fuel rods supported between two end caps; and wherein the fuel assemblies are supported within the fuel cells so that the spent nuclear fuel rods do not extend into the top-most axial section and the bottom-most axial section of the basket apparatus. 12. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the reinforcement members is a T-shaped plate or a cruciform-shaped plate. 13. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a container lid and a container body comprising a cavity, the basket apparatus positioned within the cavity of the container body. 14. The apparatus according to claim 13 further comprising a basket spacer circumscribing the basket apparatus and positioned between an inner wall surface of the container body and the basket apparatus. 15. An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel, apparatus comprising:a plurality of wall plates forming a basket apparatus comprising a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of flux traps between adjacent ones of the fuel cells;the basket apparatus extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising a top-most axial portion, a bottom-most axial portion, and a middle portion;a first set of reinforcement members positioned in lower portions of the flux traps formed by the bottom-most axial portion of the basket apparatus, the reinforcement members of the first set extending between sections of opposing ones of the wall plates that form the lower portions of the flux traps;a second set of reinforcement members positioned in upper portions of the flux traps formed by the top-most axial portion of the basket apparatus, the reinforcement members of the second set extending between sections of opposing ones of the wall plates that form the upper portions of the flux traps; anda plurality of fuel assemblies disposed in the fuel cells, each of the fuel assemblies comprising a plurality of spent nuclear fuel rods supported between two end caps. 16. The apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the reinforcement members of each of the first and second sets comprise a flat plate that extends substantially orthogonal to the sections of the opposing ones of the wall plates between which the reinforcement members extend. 17. The apparatus according to claim 15 wherein each of the fuel cells comprises a fuel cell axis that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the basket apparatus; and wherein for each adjacent pair of the fuels cells, a longitudinal reference plane that extends between and includes the fuel axes of the pair of the fuels cells intersects at least one of the reinforcement members of each of the first and second sets. 18. The apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the fuel assemblies are supported within the fuel cells so that a transverse plane does not exist that intersects the spent nuclear fuel rods and the reinforcement members of either the first or second sets. 19. The apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the first set of reinforcement members are axially aligned with and spaced apart from the second set of reinforcement members. 20. The apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the reinforcement members of the first set are separate and distinct components than the reinforcement members of the second set. 21. The apparatus according to claim 15 wherein each of the reinforcement members is a T-shaped plate or a cruciform-shaped plate. 22. An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel, the apparatus comprising:a plurality of wall plates forming a basket apparatus comprising a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of flux traps between adjacent ones of the fuel cells, the wall plates comprising reinforcement slots;a plurality of reinforcement members, each of the reinforcement members comprising a body portion and first and second flange portions protruding from opposite sides of the body portion;the reinforcement members positioned in the flux traps so that: (1) the first and second flange portions nest within the reinforcement slots of opposing ones of the wall plates that form the flux traps; and (2) the body portion abuts outer surfaces of the opposing ones of the wall plates, thereby maintaining a fixed distance between the outer surface of the opposing ones of the slotted wall plates. 23. The apparatus according to claim 22 wherein each of the reinforcement members is a T-shaped plate or a cruciform-shaped plate. 24. An apparatus for supporting spent nuclear fuel, the apparatus comprising:a plurality of wall plates forming a basket apparatus that extends along a longitudinal axis and comprises a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of flux traps between adjacent ones of the fuel cells; anda plurality of reinforcement members positioned in the flux traps and extending between opposing ones of the wall plates that form the flux traps, the reinforcement members arranged in a plurality of longitudinal groups, each of the longitudinal groups comprising a subset of the reinforcement members arranged in a spaced apart manner along a group axis that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis;wherein each of the reinforcement members are configured to engage reinforcement slots formed in an upper edge or a lower edge of the wall plates. 25. The apparatus according to claim 24 wherein each of the reinforcement members is a T-shaped plate or a cruciform-shaped plate.