The facility is about 15,000 square feet, somewhat larger than a baseball infield. It consists of an unloading basin, two storage basins, a repackaging basin, a disassembly basin, and an inspection basin, all under water. The basins and their interconnecting transfer canals hold about 500,000 gallons of water. A typical SRS-irradiated spent fuel element is about 14 feet long, and 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Spent fuel elements arrive at RBOF's receiving and storage area in lead-lined casks weighing from 24 to 70 tons.
All work is performed under water, starting with removal of the elements from their cask.
An overhead monorail hoist transfer system moves individual fuel elements through canals to work basins, as required, and finally to one of the storage basins. About 10 feet of water cover the tops of the fuel packages, providing shielding from radiation. RBOF currently stores a variety of fuels that can be processed in the existing SRS facilities. The options for disposition of aluminum-clad fuels in RBOF are now being evaluated. These options include reprocessing, treatment, and dry storage.