TY - JOUR A1 - Droste, Bernhard A1 - Komann, Steffen A1 - Wille, Frank A1 - Rolle, Annette A1 - Probst, Ulrich A1 - Schubert, Sven T1 - Consideration of aging mechanism influence on transport safety of dual purpose casks for spent nuclear fuel of HLW JF - Packaging, transport, storage & security of radioactive materials (RAMTRANS) N2 - When storage of spent nuclear fuel or high level waste is carried out in dual purpose casks (DPC), the effects of aging on safety relevant DPC functions and properties have to be managed in a way that a safe transport after the storage period of several decades is capable and can be justified and certified permanently throughout that period. The effects of aging mechanisms (e.g. radiation, different corrosion mechanisms, stress relaxation, creep, structural changes and degradation) on the transport package design safety assessment features have to be evaluated. Consideration of these issues in the DPC transport safety case will be addressed. Special attention is given to all cask components that cannot be directly inspected or changed without opening the cask cavity, like the inner parts of the closure system and the cask internals, like baskets or spent fuel assemblies. The design criteria of that transport safety case have to consider the operational impacts during storage. Aging is not the subject of technical aspects only but also of ‘intellectual’ aspects, like changing standards, scientific/technical knowledge development and personal as well as institutional alterations. Those aspects are to be considered in the management system of license holders and in appropriate design approval update processes. The paper addresses issues that are subject of an actual International Atomic Energy Agency TECDOC draft 'Preparation of a safety case for a dual purpose cask containing spent nuclear fuel'. KW - Transport KW - Storage KW - Spent fuel KW - High-level waste KW - Aging KW - Metal seals KW - Transport and storage casks KW - Spent nuclear fuel KW - Aging mechanisms KW - Corrosion KW - Safety assessment PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1179/1746510914Y.0000000070 SN - 1746-5095 SN - 1746-5109 SN - 0957-476X VL - 25 IS - 3-4 SP - 105 EP - 112 PB - Ramtrans Publ. CY - Ashford AN - OPUS4-33428 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Linnemann, Konrad A1 - Ballheimer, Viktor A1 - Rolle, Annette A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Considerations on spent fuel behavior for transport after extended storage JF - Kerntechnik N2 - Packages for the transport of spent nuclear fuel shall meet the International Atomic Energy Agency regulations to ensure safety under different transport conditions. The physical state of spent fuel and the fuel rod cladding as well as the geometric configuration of fuel assemblies are important inputs for the evaluation of package capabilities under these conditions. In this paper, the mechanical behavior of high burn-up spent fuel assemblies (> approx. 50 GWd/tHM, value averaged over the fuel assembly) under transport conditions is analyzed with regard to the assumptions which are used in the Containment and criticality safety analysis. In view of the complexity of the interactions between the fuel rods as well as between the fuel assemblies, basket, and cask containment, the exact mechanical analysis of such phenomena is nearly impossible. Additionally, the gaps in information concerning the material properties of cladding and pellet behavior, especially for the high burn-up fuel, make the analysis more complicated. Considerations and knowledge gaps for the transport after extended interim storage are issues of growing interest. In this context, practical approaches are discussed based on the experience of BAM within the safety assessment of packages approved for transport of spent nuclear fuel. KW - Transport packages for radioactive material KW - Spent nuclear fuel PY - 2018 VL - 83 IS - 6 SP - 488 EP - 494 PB - Hanser AN - OPUS4-47359 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rolle, Annette A1 - Buhlemann, Lothar T1 - Quality assurance in production and use of special form radioactive material - focal points in BAM approvals JF - Packaging, transport, storage & security of radioactive materials (RAMTRANS) N2 - BAM, as the competent authority for approval of special form radioactive material, attaches great importance to a detailed audit of the required quality assurance programmes for design, manufacture, testing, documentation, use, maintenance and inspection. Applicants have to submit, together with their application documentation, information on general arrangements for quality assurance, as well as on quality assurance in production and in operation. Fields where BAM has often found deficiencies are leak test methods, weld seam quality and the safety level after use. PY - 2004 SN - 1746-5095 SN - 1746-5109 SN - 0957-476X VL - 15 IS - 2 SP - 101 EP - 103 PB - Ramtrans Publ. CY - Ashford AN - OPUS4-7278 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rolle, Annette A1 - Droste, Bernhard T1 - Safety during whole life time: important aspect in safety assessment of sealed radioactive sources JF - Packaging, transport, storage & security of radioactive materials (RAMTRANS) N2 - Many sealed sources with long halflife isotopes commonly used in industry or medicine have a long working life, up to several decades. Source integrity must be guaranteed in transport and use at any time. On the one hand, safety during the working life has to be ensured by the source design. Its strain has to be tested. On the other hand, source durability depends on the specific operating conditions. BAM as the competent authority in Germany has to assess the suitability of a source design for safe transport and use also for a longer service life for: (a) sources approved as special form radioactive material according to the regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material, (b) sources in approved devices for licence free use according to the Radiation Protection Ordinance, Para 25, and (c) sources with an extended leak test period according to Radiation Protection Ordinance, Para 66. In all these domains BAM has to assess if design and additional arrangements are qualified and guaranteed to prevent a release of radioactive content under the mechanical, chemical and physical operating conditions of the specified working life of a sealed radioactive source. As a result, limits for the duration of validity of the special form status of a source or a type approval of a device are specified and, in many cases, special additional responsibilities for users, such as periodical control and test measurements, have to be specified in approval certificates as binding conditions to satisfy the required safety standards in regulations. This paper presents BAM's experiences and shows which aspects should be considered in assessment of a lifetime limit of sealed sources. KW - Radioactive KW - Sealed sources KW - Aging PY - 2008 DO - https://doi.org/10.1179/174651008X344458 SN - 1746-5095 SN - 1746-5109 SN - 0957-476X VL - 19 IS - 3 SP - 151 EP - 154 PB - Ramtrans Publ. CY - Ashford AN - OPUS4-18741 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rolle, Annette A1 - Droste, Bernhard A1 - Schubert, Sven A1 - Probst, Ulrich A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Verification of activity release compliance with regulatory limits within spent fuel transport cask assessment JF - Packaging, transport, storage & security of radioactive materials (RAMTRANS) N2 - Admissible limits for activity release from type B(U) packages for spent fuel transport specified in the International Atomic Energy Agency regulations (10-6 A2 h-1 for normal conditions of transport and A2 per week for accidental conditions of transport) have to be kept by an appropriate function of the cask body and its sealing system. Direct measurements of activity release from the transport casks are not feasible. Therefore, the most common method for the specification of leak tightness is to relate the admissible limits of activity release to equivalent standardised leakage rates. Applicable procedure and calculation methods are summarised in the International Standard ISO 12807 and the US standard ANSI N14·5. BAM as the German competent authority for mechanical, thermal and containment assessment of packages liable for approval verifies the activity release compliance with the regulatory limits. Two fundamental aspects in the assessment are the specification of conservative design leakage rates for normal and accidental conditions of transport and the determination of release fractions of radioactive gases, volatiles and particles from spent fuel rods. Design leakage rates identify the efficiency limits of the sealing system under normal and accidental transport conditions and are deduced from tests with real casks, cask models or components. The releasable radioactive content is primarily determined by the fraction of rods developing cladding breaches and the release fractions of radionuclides due to cladding breaches. The influence of higher burn-ups on the failure probability of the rods and on the release fractions are important questions. This paper gives an overview about methodology of activity release calculation and correlated boundary conditions for assessment. KW - Containment compliance KW - Seals KW - Regulations KW - Activity release PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1179/1746510913Y.0000000012 SN - 1746-5095 SN - 1746-5109 SN - 0957-476X VL - 23 IS - 3-4 SP - 149 EP - 152 PB - Ramtrans Publ. CY - Ashford AN - OPUS4-29244 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -