TY - JOUR A1 - Lengas, Nikolaos A1 - Müller, Karsten A1 - Schlick‐Hasper, Eva A1 - Neitsch, Marcel A1 - Johann, Sergej A1 - Zehn, Manfred W. T1 - Drop Test Simulation of Packaging for Dangerous Goods: An Investigation of Appropriate Drop Height Adjustment in Case of Deviating Packaging Gross Mass N2 - In the approval process of dangerous goods packagings, drop tests onto a flat, essentially unyielding surface are used to assess resistance against mechanical damage. International adopted regulations like ADR and RID define filling good dependent drop heights and filling degrees whilst the user needs to define the maximum gross mass to be tested and approved. Maximum packaging gross mass is defined conservatively and not reached in practice. To meet the defined gross mass in testing, using additives is permitted. However, in some cases, additives are not desirable due to packaging design or filling substance properties. This leads to deviations from the initial gross mass definition. Hence, a certain drop height adjustment is necessary to achieve the required impact loading. Laboratories frequently adjust drop height assuming a perfectly elastic collision that is inaccurate. Appropriate adjustment is not trivial due to energy conversion processes, for example, plastic deformation. In this work, a test stand KW - Corrugated fibreboard box KW - Dangerous goods packagings KW - Drop test KW - Impact target KW - Mechanical response KW - Structural dynamics PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-614138 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pts.2858 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-61413 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Tightness Verification Procedures of welded Lids for Encapsulations for Damaged Spent Nuclear Fuel in the Design Approval Process of Dual-Purpose Cask N2 - Damaged spent nuclear fuel (DSNF) can be loaded in Germany in dual-purpose casks (DPC) for transport and interim storage. Therefore, special encapsulations are needed to guarantee a safe handling and a reliable tight closure. These encapsulations must be durable and leak-tight for a possible long interim storage term and the transport thereafter. Because components inside the package containment like these special encapsulations are not accessible within periodical inspections of the DPC. Due to the general design of DPCs for standard fuel assemblies, specific requirements needed to be considered for the design of the special encapsulations for DSNF to ensure the loading in existing package designs. Especially the content of the encapsulations with damaged spent nuclear fuel must be avoided to enter in the inner space of the DPC, due to the possible higher amount of corrosive and radioactive material as well as greater quantities of water, which can be trapped in defect fuel rods. The main difference of the e T2 - ASME PVP 2024 CY - Bellevue, WA, USA DA - 28.07.2024 KW - Tightness verification KW - Weld seams KW - Drop tests KW - Encapsulations for damaged spent nuclear fuel KW - Helium leak tests PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61353 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Feldkamp, Martin A1 - Gleim, Tobias A1 - Musolff, Andre A1 - Werner, Jan A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Enhancement of the BAM Fire Test Stand for Testing a Large Transport Package for Radioactive Materials N2 - Packages for the transport of spent nuclear fuel are designed to endure severe accidents. To obtain approval, these transport packages must adhere to the specification-based criteria of the international transport regulations SSR-6 of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). To ensure compliance with these requirements, specific mechanical and thermal tests need to be addressed with respect to the package type. Typically, SSR-6 prescribes a mechanical test followed by a thermal fire test as part of different testing scenarios. To approve the latter test of the sequence, BAM performs calorimeter tests in advance with so-called fire reference packages for characterizing the actual fire and its impact on the package to be tested. Packages are designed with different geometry sizes depending on their purpose. For previous tests, the implemented test setups in the fire test stand were sufficiently dimensioned and could cover all requirements in this respect. However, to cover additional testing needs in the future, BAM is expanding the test setup for the purpose of testing significantly larger packages. In previous test setups one ring burner for propane surrounding the test specimen was sufficient. The limiting size in this configuration was the design height of the transport package to be tested. According to the thermal test of the IAEA-Regulations [1], a 30-minute fully engulfing 800°C pool fire or an equally severe fire, e.g., propane gas fire, must be applied to the transport package. Possible adjustments such as nozzle cross-section and propane mass flow can be adjusted to a certain extent. Further modifications, to cover significantly higher and larger packages all-around with a fully engulfing fire, must be accomplished with an additional, second burner ring. Both burner rings had the same dimensions and were mounted on top of each other at different heights to create a significantly larger volume of fire that completely engulfs the package including its impact limiter. To meet the IAEA regulatory boundary conditions, the enhanced fire test stand with the second burner ring is tested with a large fire reference package and will then be used for real-size transport packages after all parameters are successfully met. This fire reference package represents the external geometry of a generic transport cask for radioactive material and is equipped with numerous temperature sensors to record temperature curves at the interior wall surfaces. T2 - RAMTrans 2024 CY - London, United Kingdom DA - 14.05.2024 KW - Fire testing KW - Full-scale KW - Transport package PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 7 AN - OPUS4-60253 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Quercetti, Thomas T1 - Enhancement of the bam fire test stand for testing a large transport package for radioactive materials N2 - Packages for the transport of spent nuclear fuel are designed to endure severe accidents. To obtain approval, these transport packages must adhere to the specification-based criteria of the international transport regulations SSR-6 of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). To ensure compliance with these requirements, specific mechanical and thermal tests need to be addressed with respect to the package type. Typically, SSR-6 prescribes a mechanical test followed by a thermal fire test as part of different testing scenarios. To approve the latter test of the sequence, BAM performs calorimeter tests in advance with so-called fire reference packages for characterizing the actual fire and its impact on the package to be tested. Packages are designed with different geometry sizes depending on their purpose. For previous tests, the implemented test setups in the fire test stand were sufficiently dimensioned and could cover all requirements in this respect. However, to cover additional testing needs in the future, BAM is expanding the test setup for the purpose of testing significantly larger packages. In previous test setups one ring burner for propane surrounding the test specimen was sufficient. The limiting size in this configuration was the design height of the transport package to be tested. According to the thermal test of the IAEA-Regulations [1], a 30-minute fully engulfing 800°C pool fire or an equally severe fire, e.g., propane gas fire, must be applied to the transport package. Possible adjustments such as nozzle cross-section and propane mass flow can be adjusted to a certain extent. Further modifications, to cover significantly higher and larger packages all-around with a fully engulfing fire, must be accomplished with an additional, second burner ring. Both burner rings had the same dimensions and were mounted on top of each other at different heights to create a significantly larger volume of fire that completely engulfs the package including its impact limiter. To meet the IAEA regulatory boundary conditions, the enhanced fire test stand with the second burner ring is tested with a large fire reference package and will then be used for real-size transport packages after all parameters are successfully met. This fire reference package represents the external geometry of a generic transport cask for radioactive material and is equipped with numerous temperature sensors to record temperature curves at the interior wall surfaces. T2 - RAMTrans 2024 CY - London, United Kingdom DA - 14.05.2024 KW - Fire testing KW - Full-scale KW - Transport package PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60255 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Mike T1 - Consequences of an Imperfectly Mounted Reinforcement Cage in a Cylindrical Concrete Container During Mechanical Specimen Tests N2 - In 2007 the license for the German Konrad repository for low and intermediate level radioactive waste was finally confirmed. Since then, the site is improved, prepared and equipped for the currently planned start of waste package emplacement in 2029. Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung is regularly contracted by the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung as the responsible authority for waste product control, waste container design testing, and waste package acceptance. In this context BAM is mainly responsible for design testing of various container types including the evaluation of quality assurance measures for container manufacturing. In addition to general requirements concerning container design, the casks have to withstand specific mechanical load scenarios. Drop tests from different heights under consideration of the most damaging drop orientation and a stacking test are two examples for necessary safety demonstrations. If the containers are made from concrete the reinforcement has the function to absorb tensile forces the concrete is not able to withstand by its own. Because of manufacturing imperfections of cylindrical concrete containers manufactured already decades ago, the reinforcement cages are not always exactly, asymmetrically positioned when they were poured. This inspired BAM to perform various ABAQUS® finite-element (FE) simulations by using the example of a simplified cylindrical container design with generic dimensions. On the basis of the calculated tensile and compressive stress distributions suggestions are derived on how a cylindrical concrete container with an imperfectly placed reinforcement cage has to be oriented for a drop or stacking test to ensure the most damaging test scenario. T2 - RAMTRANS 2024 CY - London, United Kingdom DA - 14.05.2024 KW - Finite-element-analysis KW - Container design testing procedure KW - Reinforced concrete containers KW - Drop test KW - Stacking test KW - Imperfectly mounted reinforcement cage PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60120 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gleim, Tobias A1 - Feldkamp, Martin A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Musolff, André A1 - Werner, Jan A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Enhancement of Fire Test Stand Performance at Test Site of BAM: Installation and Evaluation of an Augmented System with a Fire Reference Package N2 - Packages for the transport of radioactive material are designed to en-dure severe accidents. Packages for the transportation of radioactive material must demonstrate that the package can withstand certain prescribed tests from the IAEA Regulations [1]. In addition to mechanical tests, a thermal test in form of a fire test must be carried out. As packages to be tested at BAM are signifi-cantly larger than previous package designs, BAM has expanded an existing fire test stand. A modular concept is chosen, which means that the arrangement of the burner nozzles can be adapted to the test specimen. The dimensions of the burner rings, the type, the orientation and the number of burner nozzles can be varied depending on the test specimen. In addition, various pumps can be used to set the corresponding mass flow. With the help of a calorimeter test, the fire test stand can be qualified for a specific size of packages regarding the boundary conditions of the IAEA Regulations [1]. Due to the typically wood filled impact limiters in German package designs, a fire test is necessary, as experiments have shown that possible openings that occurred during a mechanical test contributed to the igni-tion of the wood filled impact limiters within the prescribed 30 minutes of the IAEA Regulations [1]. From a series of experiments, two experiments are pre-sented to show the possibilities to obtain different temperatures and temperature rates in the test specimen. In addition to sensor data, the heat flux into the package is calculated to verify that the IAEA boundary conditions are satisfied. In addition to the temperature data, other data such as wind speed and wind direction are also recorded to explain subsequent effects in the measurement data in a comprehen-sible manner. T2 - Wood & Fire Safety 2024 CY - Strbske Pleso, Slowakei DA - 13.05.2024 KW - IAEA Regu-lations KW - Fire Test Stand KW - Accident Scenario KW - Fire Qualification PY - 2024 UR - https://link.springer.com/book/9783031591761 SN - 978-3-031-59176-1 SN - 978-3-031-59179-2 SN - 978-3-031-59177-8 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59177-8_22 VL - 1 SP - 189 EP - 197 PB - Springer Cham AN - OPUS4-60101 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gleim, Tobias T1 - Enhancement of Fire Test Stand Performance at Test Site of BAM: Installation and Evaluation of an Augmented System with a Fire Reference Package N2 - Packages for the transport of radioactive material are designed to en-dure severe accidents. Packages for the transportation of radioactive material must demonstrate that the package can withstand certain prescribed tests from the IAEA Regulations [1]. In addition to mechanical tests, a thermal test in form of a fire test must be carried out. As packages to be tested at BAM are signifi-cantly larger than previous package designs, BAM has expanded an existing fire test stand. A modular concept is chosen, which means that the arrangement of the burner nozzles can be adapted to the test specimen. The dimensions of the burner rings, the type, the orientation and the number of burner nozzles can be varied depending on the test specimen. In addition, various pumps can be used to set the corresponding mass flow. With the help of a calorimeter test, the fire test stand can be qualified for a specific size of packages regarding the boundary conditions of the IAEA Regulations [1]. Due to the typically wood filled impact limiters in German package designs, a fire test is necessary, as experiments have shown that possible openings that occurred during a mechanical test contributed to the igni-tion of the wood filled impact limiters within the prescribed 30 minutes of the IAEA Regulations [1]. From a series of experiments, two experiments are pre-sented to show the possibilities to obtain different temperatures and temperature rates in the test specimen. In addition to sensor data, the heat flux into the package is calculated to verify that the IAEA boundary conditions are satisfied. In addition to the temperature data, other data such as wind speed and wind direction are also recorded to explain subsequent effects in the measurement data in a comprehen-sible manner. T2 - Wood & Fire Safety 2024 CY - Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia DA - 13.05.2024 KW - Fire Test Stand KW - Accident Scenario KW - Fire Qualification KW - IAEA Regu-lations PY - 2024 UR - https://link.springer.com/book/9783031591761 AN - OPUS4-60104 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rolle, Annette A1 - Neumeyer, Tino A1 - Ballheimer, Viktor A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Investigations of Aged Metal Seals for Transport Package Safety Assessment N2 - Acceptable limits for activity release from transport casks for high-level radioactive material specified in the IAEA regulations must be kept by the integrity of cask body and the cask sealing system. 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. The specification of conservative package design leakage rates is one of the most important aspects in assessment. Metal seals of the Helicoflex® Type are usually used to ensure the required package tightness for both, storage, and transport of the cask before and after storage. Due to the long-term use the seal behavior is influenced by temperature and time. The mechanical and thermal loadings associated with the routine, normal and accident conditions of transport specified in the regulations can have a significant effect on the leak tightness of the sealing system. Whereas the safety for application of new, non- aged Helicoflex® seals is verified sufficiently, there are still technical data gaps concerning the efficiency of aged Helicoflex® seals. BAM performed experiments to learn more about the sealing efficiency of aged Helicoflex® seals with Aluminum and Silver outer jackets. The seals were compressed in test-flanges and for artificial ageing the complete flange systems were stored in an oven for several month at a high temperature. After this ageing procedure the flanges were opened completely, the seals were moved a little to vary the contact area, and the flanges were compressed again. During the compression and decompression tests after the aging, load-deformation characteristics of the seals, and leakage rates were measured. With these tests a load situation was simulated, which can occur in the regulatory drop test of the cask: Under high impact loads the bolted lid can lift a little for a short moment, allowing a little movement of the seal, so that the contact area can change before compressing again. Details about test conditions and first results will be presented in the poster. T2 - RAMTrans 2024, 12th Internatiopnal Conference on the Transport , Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Materials CY - London, UK DA - 15.05.2024 KW - Seals KW - Ageing KW - Radioaktiv PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60112 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Feldkamp, Martin A1 - Gleim, Tobias A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Combustion Chamber Design for Encapsulated Wood-Component Testing N2 - Heavy-weight packages for the safe transport of radioactive material are equippedwith impact limiters often built ofwood-filled steel sheet structures to fulfil the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations. The requirements definemechanical tests followed by a thermal test, including criteria ensuring the package design’s ability to withstand severe accidents and provide a high level of technical safety. Impact limiters are a package component mainly designed for the packages to withstand severe mechanical accident scenarios. In drop tests the impact limiters absorb the kinetic energy during impact of the package. The package must then - with its pre-damaged impact limiters - endure a thermal test defined precisely in the IAEA regulations as a 30-min fully engulfing 800 °C-fire. After the fire, a wood-filled impact limiter may continue to release thermal energy from an ongoing combustion process, defining relevant package temperatures. The energy flow from a possible burning impact limiter to the package is important for the safety evaluation of transport packages. To investigate the combustion behaviour of densely packed layers of spruce wood, encapsulated in pre-damaged cylindrical metal enclosures, a test set-up has been realised. The set-up consists of a combustion chamber to perform these tests under defined boundary conditions. The temperature development of the test specimens will be observed fromoutside with a thermographic imager, with HD-Cameras, and the mass loss will be measured during the entire test. Airflow conditions in the combustion chamber are analysed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations in OpenFOAM. The planned combustion test setup is described. T2 - Wood & Fire Safety 2024 CY - Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia DA - 12.05.2024 KW - Fire KW - Combustion KW - Smouldering PY - 2024 SN - 978-3-031-59176-1 SN - 978-3-031-59179-2 SN - 978-3-031-59177-8 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59177-8 SP - 215 EP - 222 PB - Springer Nature Switzerland AG CY - Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland AN - OPUS4-60226 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Feldkamp, Martin T1 - Combustion Chamber Design for Encapsulated Wood-Component Testing N2 - eavy-weight packages for the safe transport of radioactive material are equippedwith impact limiters often built ofwood-filled steel sheet structures to fulfil the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations. The requirements definemechanical tests followed by a thermal test, including criteria ensuring the package design’s ability to withstand severe accidents and provide a high level of technical safety. Impact limiters are a package component mainly designed for the packages to withstand severe mechanical accident scenarios. In drop tests the impact limiters absorb the kinetic energy during impact of the package. The package must then - with its pre-damaged impact limiters - endure a thermal test defined precisely in the IAEA regulations as a 30-min fully engulfing 800 °C-fire. After the fire, a wood-filled impact limiter may continue to release thermal energy from an ongoing combustion process, defining relevant package temperatures. The energy flow from a possible burning impact limiter to the package is important for the safety evaluation of transport packages. To investigate the combustion behaviour of densely packed layers of spruce wood, encapsulated in pre-damaged cylindrical metal enclosures, a test set-up has been realised. The set-up consists of a combustion chamber to perform these tests under defined boundary conditions. The temperature development of the test specimens will be observed fromoutside with a thermographic imager, with HD-Cameras, and the mass loss will be measured during the entire test. Airflow conditions in the combustion chamber are analysed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations in OpenFOAM. The planned combustion test setup is described. T2 - Wood & Fire Safety 2024 CY - Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia DA - 12.05.2024 KW - IAEA KW - Combustion Chamber KW - Smouldering KW - Wood PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60227 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Zencker, Uwe A1 - Völzke, Holger T1 - Brittle Failure Limits of Spent Fuel Claddings Subjected to Long-Term Dry Interim Storage Conditions N2 - The mechanical properties of spent fuel claddings can be adversely affected under the conditions of long-term dry interim storage, so that the failure limits may be reached in case of mechanical loads during handling or transport after storage. Pre-storage drying and the early stage of interim storage can expose the cladding to higher temperatures and higher tensile hoop stresses than those associated with in-reactor operation and pool storage. During slow cooling of a cladding tube under internal pressure, radial hydrides may precipitate in zirconium-based cladding alloys. This can lead to embrittlement of the material and sudden failure of the cladding integrity under mechanical stress. In order to prevent brittle failure, numerical methods are being developed to predict the mechanical behaviour and identify limiting conditions. Experimental investigations, numerical analyses and evaluation methods are discussed. An established experimental method for characterising cladding materials is the Ring Compression Test (RCT). Some test results on irradiated cladding tubes after operation in pressure water reactors are publicly available. However, it is helpful to carry out studies on unirradiated surrogate claddings with similar material properties to reduce the effort associated with irradiated samples in hot cells and to perform material tests with a wider range of parameters. On the basis of such experimental data, load-displacement curves have been numerically analysed for a selection of cladding materials. Radial hydrides can cause a sample to break suddenly due to fracture even at low deformation. Noticeable load drops in the RCT are caused by unstable crack propagation through the radial hydride network. The failure mechanism is quasi-cleavage in the hydrides and micro-void nucleation, growth, and coalescence in the zirconium matrix, with ductile tearing patches connecting adjacent hydrides. The cohesive zone approach was used to simulate the failure process taking into account the radial hydride morphology. The developed method can adequately describe both the deformation and failure behaviour of irradiated as well as unirradiated claddings of zirconium-based alloys with radial hydrides under RCT conditions. Limiting conditions can be expressed in terms of fracture energy and cohesive strength. T2 - IAEA International Conference on the Management of Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Plants - Meeting the Moment CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 10.06.2024 KW - Ageing Management KW - Cladding Embrittlement KW - Extended Storage KW - Ring Compression Test KW - Spent Nuclear Fuel PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 10 AN - OPUS4-60323 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Zencker, Uwe T1 - Brittle Failure Limits of Spent Fuel Claddings Subjected to Long-Term Dry Interim Storage Conditions N2 - The mechanical properties of spent fuel claddings can be adversely affected under the conditions of long-term dry interim storage, so that the failure limits may be reached in case of mechanical loads during handling or transport after storage. Pre-storage drying and the early stage of interim storage can expose the cladding to higher temperatures and higher tensile hoop stresses than those associated with in-reactor operation and pool storage. During slow cooling of a cladding tube under internal pressure, radial hydrides may precipitate in zirconium-based cladding alloys. This can lead to embrittlement of the material and sudden failure of the cladding integrity under mechanical stress. In order to prevent brittle failure, numerical methods are being developed to predict the mechanical behaviour and identify limiting conditions. Experimental investigations, numerical analyses and evaluation methods are discussed. An established experimental method for characterising cladding materials is the Ring Compression Test (RCT). Some test results on irradiated cladding tubes after operation in pressure water reactors are publicly available. However, it is helpful to carry out studies on unirradiated surrogate claddings with similar material properties to reduce the effort associated with irradiated samples in hot cells and to perform material tests with a wider range of parameters. On the basis of such experimental data, load-displacement curves have been numerically analysed for a selection of cladding materials. Radial hydrides can cause a sample to break suddenly due to fracture even at low deformation. Noticeable load drops in the RCT are caused by unstable crack propagation through the radial hydride network. The failure mechanism is quasi-cleavage in the hydrides and micro-void nucleation, growth, and coalescence in the zirconium matrix, with ductile tearing patches connecting adjacent hydrides. The cohesive zone approach was used to simulate the failure process taking into account the radial hydride morphology. The developed method can adequately describe both the deformation and failure behaviour of irradiated as well as unirradiated claddings of zirconium-based alloys with radial hydrides under RCT conditions. Limiting conditions can be expressed in terms of fracture energy and cohesive strength. T2 - IAEA International Conference on the Management of Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Plants - Meeting the Moment CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 10.06.2024 KW - Ageing Management KW - Cladding Embrittlement KW - Extended Storage KW - Ring Compression Test KW - Spent Nuclear Fuel PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60324 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gleim, Tobias T1 - Potential Effects of Battery and Hydrogen Fires regarding Regulatory Requirements N2 - Introduction and Necessity of the Investigation The IAEA regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material (IAEA SSR-6) define the safety requirements for different package types and consider different transport conditions. The accident conditions of transport specify different mechanical and thermal tests based on investigations of real accident scenarios. Considering the rapid development of new boundary conditions of transport such as electric mobility and the use of hydrogen as energy source for trucks and other kind of vehicles, potential effects of battery and hydrogen fires in transport accidents should be investigated. The aim is to evaluate the existing test requirements developed and derived decades ago, whether they are covering the current transport situation. This concept paper will briefly present the reasons for detailed investigations as bases for a coordinated research project under the roof of the IAEA. T2 - Technical Exchange IRSN – BAM Transport & Storage of Packages for Radioactive Material CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 04.06.2024 KW - Fire KW - Battery KW - Hydrogen KW - IAEA Regulations PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60338 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Naster, Maximilian T1 - Hydrogen Fire Testing N2 - In this presentation we present a new hydrogen-based test rig for an ongoing feasibility study of using hydrogen as an energy source for the thermal testing of transport packages containing radioactive materials. The test rig will be capable of combusting hydrogen for a wide range of different burner geometries, mass flows and if necessary hydrogen blends. As this type of fire test according to the IAEA boundary conditions does not yet exist, a large number of preliminary investigations, safety assessments and calculations must be carried out in order to develop a viable concept for hydrogen fires. In the first step of the feasibility study, the temperature, structure, and radiation of various hydrogen flames are surveyed. In future works, the results will make it possible to design burner frames that are suitable for fire reference tests in order to make comparisons with pool and propane fires used in assessment procedures today. In parallel comparative numerical simulations are conducted to model the thermal behaviour of hydrogen flames using the software package Ansys®. On the one hand, the numerical simulations support the experiments by providing an overview of numerous parameters and the measuring range; on the other hand, they will help with the design of the burner frame in future work. This paper gives an overview in the design and capabilities of the test rig. Furthermore, the results of the parameter studies show that burner geometry and mass flow provide a significant design margin for the thermal shape of the hydrogen flames. In addition, the results of the initial numerical calculations will be used to determine the necessary sensors, the positions, and their operating range. Only the optimal interaction allows a controlled system that permits user-defined hydrogen fires. T2 - Technical Exchange IRSN – BAM Transport & Storage of Packages for Radioactive Material CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 04.06.2024 KW - Hydrogen PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60341 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Zencker, Uwe T1 - Fracture Mechanics Analysis of Spent Fuel Claddings during Long-Term Dry Interim Storage N2 - The European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD) is working on Spent Fuel Characterization (SFC) in its work package (WP) 8. Inspired by the EURAD activities, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) established an international Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on SFC. The EURAD WP SFC participants are collaborating as a team on the IAEA CRP on SFC. The EURAD WP SFC project consists of four tasks. Task 3 investigates the behaviour of nuclear fuel and cladding after discharge. The aim of these activities is to understand and describe the evolution of the cladding-pellet system and its ageing under conditions of extended interim storage, transportation and emplacement in a final disposal system. At the Third Research Coordination Meeting on Spent Fuel Characterization, BAM as contributor to Task 3 reported on the activities and status of its research work. T2 - IAEA 3rd Research Coordination Meeting of the Coordinated Research Project on Spent Fuel Characterization CY - Cockermouth, UK DA - 01.07.2024 KW - Nuclear fuel KW - Cladding KW - Discharge PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60668 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Zencker, Uwe A1 - Gaddampally, Mohan Reddy A1 - Völzke, Holger T1 - Failure Analysis on Irradiated Claddings Subjected to Long-Term Dry Interim Storage N2 - Long-term dry interim storage may adversely affect the mechanical properties of spent fuel rods, possibly resulting in a reduced resilience during handling or transport after storage. The cladding is the first barrier for the spent fuel pellets. An established method for characterising the cladding material is the ring compression test (RCT), in which a small, cylindrical sample of the cladding tube is subjected to a compressive load. Radial hydrides may precipitate in zirconium-based alloys (Zircaloy) under pre-storage drying and during slow cooling, which result in embrittlement of the cladding material and eventually a possible sudden failure of cladding integrity under additional mechanical loads. The focus of the presented research is on the development of appropriate nu-merical methods for predicting the mechanical behaviour and identification of limiting conditions to prevent brittle fracture of Zircaloy claddings. A modelling approach based on cohesive zones is ex-plained which is able to reproduce the propagation of cracks initiated at radial hydrides in the zir-conium matrix. The developed methods are applied to defueled samples of cladding alloy ZIRLO®, which were subjected to a thermo-mechanical treatment to reorient existing circumferential hy-drides to radial hydrides. A selected sample showing sudden load drops during a quasi-static ring compression test is analysed by means of fracture mechanics for illustrative purposes. Based on the developed fracture mechanics approach, not only the deformation behaviour but also the fail-ure behaviour of irradiated as well as unirradiated Zircaloy claddings with radial hydrides under RCT loading conditions can be adequately described. T2 - 27th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology - SMiRT 27 CY - Yokohama, Japan DA - 03.03.2024 KW - Cladding Embrittlement KW - Cohesive Zone Modelling KW - Ring Compression Test KW - Spent Nuclear Fuel PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 8 AN - OPUS4-60671 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Zencker, Uwe T1 - Failure Analysis on Irradiated Claddings Subjected to Long-Term Dry Interim Storage N2 - Long-term dry interim storage may adversely affect the mechanical properties of spent fuel rods, possibly resulting in a reduced resilience during handling or transport after storage. The cladding is the first barrier for the spent fuel pellets. An established method for characterising the cladding material is the ring compression test (RCT), in which a small, cylindrical sample of the cladding tube is subjected to a compressive load. Radial hydrides may precipitate in zirconium-based alloys (Zircaloy) under pre-storage drying and during slow cooling, which result in embrittlement of the cladding material and eventually a possible sudden failure of cladding integrity under additional mechanical loads. The focus of the presented research is on the development of appropriate nu-merical methods for predicting the mechanical behaviour and identification of limiting conditions to prevent brittle fracture of Zircaloy claddings. A modelling approach based on cohesive zones is ex-plained which is able to reproduce the propagation of cracks initiated at radial hydrides in the zir-conium matrix. The developed methods are applied to defueled samples of cladding alloy ZIRLO®, which were subjected to a thermo-mechanical treatment to reorient existing circumferential hy-drides to radial hydrides. A selected sample showing sudden load drops during a quasi-static ring compression test is analysed by means of fracture mechanics for illustrative purposes. Based on the developed fracture mechanics approach, not only the deformation behaviour but also the fail-ure behaviour of irradiated as well as unirradiated Zircaloy claddings with radial hydrides under RCT loading conditions can be adequately described. T2 - 27th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology - SMiRT 27 CY - Yokohama, Japan DA - 03.03.2024 KW - Cladding Embrittlement KW - Cohesive Zone Modelling KW - Ring Compression Test KW - Spent Nuclear Fuel PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60672 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - KI-unterstützte Begutachtung der Behältersicherheit N2 - Die BAM führt sicherheitswissenschaftliche Begutachtungen von Gefahrgutbehältern durch, die mechanische, thermische, abschirmende und transportbezogene Analysen sowie Materialbewertungen und experimentelle Prüfungen umfassen. Diese Begutachtungen basieren auf umfassenden Sicherheitsberichten und Betriebsdokumentationen, die zahlreiche verknüpfte Dokumente und Daten enthalten. Änderungen an Komponenten oder regulatorischen Vorgaben können große Auswirkungen auf den Prüfumfang haben. Das Projekt sieht vor, die Datenanalyse und -bereitstellung mittels KI-Ansätzen zu verbessern. Es sollen Methoden zur automatischen Analyse und Verknüpfung komplexer Dokumentationen entwickelt werden. Ziel ist es, die Effizienz und Sicherheit der Datenanalyse und späteren Sicherheitsbewertung zu steigern, menschliche Fehler zu minimieren und die Qualität der Sicherheitsbewertungen zu verbessern. Die Qualität der Datenbereitstellung aus Zeichnungen, Tabellen, Texten und Berechnungen ist entscheidend für die Verarbeitung digitaler Formate der Behälterdokumentation. Ein neuro-symbolischer KI-Ansatz kombiniert neuronale Netze und symbolische KI, um die komplexen Inhalte zu analysieren und zu verknüpfen, was für die spätere Sicherheitsbewertung der Gefahrgutbehälter entscheidend ist. In vortrainierten Large Language Models (LLMs) fehlen für diesen Anwendungsfall spezifische fachliche Daten zur Behältersicherheit was zu fehlerhaften Ergebnissen führen kann. Für die Datenbereitstellung und Analyse im Zuge einer Sicherheitsbewertung gilt es dieses auszuschließen. Hierzu soll die RAG-Architektur (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) im Zusammenspiel mit LLMs angewendet werden. Dieser neue Ansatz der natürlichen Sprachverarbeitung und generativen KI soll die Stärken vortrainierter Sprachmodelle mit Fachwissen und Informationen aus Datenbanken und Dokumentensammlungen kombinieren. Die generierten Ergebnisse sollen dabei zusammen mit den verwendeten Quellen bereitgestellt werden, um eine fundierte und nachvollziehbare Basis für die Sicherheitsbewertung bilden. T2 - Informationsaustausch zur verkehrsrechtlichen Aufsicht bei der Beförderung radioaktiver Stoffe CY - Bonn, Germany DA - 04.02.2025 KW - KI KW - RAG KW - LLM PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62538 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Mike T1 - Consequences of an imperfectly mounted reinforcement cage in a generical cylindrical concrete container during mechanical specimen tests N2 - By highest court decision in 2007 the issued license for the Konrad repository (a former iron ore mine) for low and intermediate level radioactive waste was finally confirmed. Since then, the site is improved, prepared and equipped for the currently planned start of waste package emplacement by 2029. The Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing) is regularly contracted by the Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung (BGE, Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal) as the responsible authority for waste product control, waste container design testing, and waste package acceptance. In this context BAM is mainly responsible for design testing of various container types including the evaluation quality assurance measures for container manufacturing. In the written Konrad disposal requirements [1] [2], all acceptance criteria for potential final disposal containers are defined. In addition to general requirements concerning container design, materials, dimensions and others, specific mechanical load scenarios the casks have to withstand are derived from an analysis of the on-site handling and emplacement procedures. Drop tests from different heights under consideration of the most damaging drop orientation and a stacking test are two examples for safety demonstrations that have to be performed during the container design testing procedure to qualify the respective container type. The containers, whether cubic or cylindrical containers, can be made from different materials like ductile cast iron, reinforced concrete or as welded construction from steel plates and profiles. In case of concrete containers the reinforcement has the function to absorb tensile forces the concrete is not able to withstand by its own. Because of manufacturing imperfections of cylindrical concrete waste containers manufactured already decades ago, the reinforcement cages are not always exactly, axisymmetrically positioned when they were poured. This inspired BAM to perform various ABAQUS finite-element (FE) simulations [3] by using the example of a simplified cylindrical container design with generic dimensions and pure elastic material properties. As outcome the stress conditions in the container during the drop test impact under different drop positions and during the stacking test were investigated and are explained and illustrated in this contribution. Different reinforcement cage positions were calculated and compared. On the basis of the calculated tensile and compressive stress distributions suggestions are derived on how a cylindrical concrete container with an imperfectly placed reinforcement cage has to be oriented for a drop or stacking test to ensure the most damaging test scenario. T2 - ASME 2024 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference CY - Bellevue, Washington, USA DA - 28.07.2024 KW - Container design testing procedure KW - Reinforced concrete containers KW - Drop test KW - Stacking test KW - Imperfectly mounted reinforcement cage KW - Finite-element-analysis PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-62560 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schwarz, Irina A1 - Rieck, Arielle T1 - Valorization of carbon dioxide by electrocatalytic reduction coupled to acetogens via multiple electron carriers (Ecat-acetogens) N2 - To alleviate CO2 emissions and their impact on climate change, converting carbon dioxide into valuable products such as multi-carbon organic chemicals is of great importance. CO2 can be converted via different pathways such as electrochemical, photo-electrochemical and biological etc. Each approach offers distinct merits but also certain challenges in terms of process efficiency, product selectivity and implementation at scale etc. Therefore, developing coupled CO2 conversion systems, for instance bioelectrochemical reactors, can potentially address some of those challenges.[1] In this work, the focus is on developing cost-efficient, biocompatible, and high activity porous M-N-C catalysts with M = Ni and Co that are atomically dispersed as NiN4 and CoN4 active sites in porous carbon matrix. Ni- and Co-N-Cs are prepared by active-site imprinting approach using Mg as an imprinter.[2][3] Pyrolysis of Mg-N-C is carried out in a salt-melt at high temperatures (≥ 800 oC) and followed by an exchange with Ni or Co at low temperatures. N2-sorption of the materials reveal a micro-mesoporous structure with high surface areas (> 1000 m2 g-1) and a mass-transport enabling pore system. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) reveal the existence of atomically dispersed single atom active sites with defined active site structure. A variety of Ni-N-Cs and Co-N-Cs were tested for CO2R activity in a rotating disc electrode (RDE) setup, showing high activity and selectivity towards CO2R versus the competing HER. Subsequently, these catalysts were implemented in a home-made bio-electrocatalytical system (BES) consisting of a bioreactor coupled to a CO2 electrolysis cell. Here, CO2 is first electrochemically converted to CO in the electrolysis cell which is then directly fed to bacteria (Clostridium ragsdalei) in bioreactor who further metabolize it to valuable carbon compounds such as acetate. In the BES, partial pressures of CO reached a maximum of 5.7 mbar and that of hydrogen was 2.7 mbar after 30 h. A specific exponential bacterial growth rate of 0.16 h-1 was observed with acetate formation rate of 1.8 mg L-1 h-1 and an acetate concentration of 0.103 g L-1 corresponding to acetate formation rate of 0.73 mmol d-1. As will be discussed in greater details in this talk, we have successfully demonstrated the validity of a coupled bio-electrocatalytical system concept operating with Co- and Ni-N-C catalysts for CO2 conversion. T2 - Joint SPP Conference CY - Jena, Germany DA - 06.11.2024 KW - CO2 Reduktion KW - Bioelectrocatalytical system PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61993 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -