Abstract. Considerable effort is being devoted in the Romania's Nuclear Spent Fuel and Waste Management R&D Program to develop engineered barriers for the containment of nuclear fuel waste under conditions of deep geological disposal. Engineering practice suggests that the concrete should fulfil the requirements of long term physical stability and resistance to radiation damage. With an appropriate system of metal reinforcement, it should be possible to obtain the tensile and impact strength required avoiding the risk of mechanical damage during handling and emplacement. In accordance with the concept developed by SITON-Bucharest, presently, the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel is thought by two choices: (i) the alternative of dry storage type MMB3; (ii) the alternative of dry storage type TRANSTOR. By using ORIGEN and PELSHIE computer codes, we evaluated the absorbed gamma radiation dose absorbed by the concrete walls of the storage vault both in MMB3 and in TRANSTOR designing choice. The irradiation tests were performed at the Gamma Irradiation Facility from the Institute for Nuclear Research.

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