Thermal performance of a concrete cask: Methodology to model helium leakage from the steel canister

The period of time to achieve the temperature threshold (673 K) is a function of pressure loss rate and decay heat of the fuel stored in the container; in case of a fuel canister with 30 kW the period of time to reach the thermal limit takes between half day (fast pressure loss) and one week (slow pressure loss). In case of a 15% reduction of the decay heat, the period of time to achieve the thermal limit increase up to a few weeks. The results highlight that casks with heat loads below 20 kW would never exceed the thermal threshold (673 K).