Investigations of Aged Metal Seals for Interim Storage
- The storage of spent fuel and high level radioactive waste in Germany is performed in interim storage containers with double lid systems. The lids are bolted and equipped with metal seals (e.g. Helicoflex®) to ensure the safe enclosure of the inventory. The used metal seals have a layered structure consisting of three components as can be seen schematically in the cross-sectional view in Fig. 1. In the center a helical spring is positioned that is surrounded by two C-shaped jackets and is mainly responsible for generation of the required restoring force. The inner jacket is made of stainless steel and homogenizes the restoring force of the helical spring. The outer jacket is made of silver or aluminium which both are soft metals in comparison to the contact partners (lid and container body). During bolting of the lid to the container body the seal is compressed. The generated restoring force of the helical spring causes a plastic deformation of the outer jacket and adapts to theThe storage of spent fuel and high level radioactive waste in Germany is performed in interim storage containers with double lid systems. The lids are bolted and equipped with metal seals (e.g. Helicoflex®) to ensure the safe enclosure of the inventory. The used metal seals have a layered structure consisting of three components as can be seen schematically in the cross-sectional view in Fig. 1. In the center a helical spring is positioned that is surrounded by two C-shaped jackets and is mainly responsible for generation of the required restoring force. The inner jacket is made of stainless steel and homogenizes the restoring force of the helical spring. The outer jacket is made of silver or aluminium which both are soft metals in comparison to the contact partners (lid and container body). During bolting of the lid to the container body the seal is compressed. The generated restoring force of the helical spring causes a plastic deformation of the outer jacket and adapts to the surfaces of the lid and the container body. Hence, leakage paths are closed and the sealing function is generated. Typical durations for existing interim storage licenses in Germany are 40 years, but it can be expected that they have to be extended to longer periods as a final repository will not be available before the end of the running licence periods. This extension of license periods requires a solid understanding of the long-term behaviour of the seals under storage conditions. To meet this challenge long-term investigations have been started at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) in 2009. These tests focus on seals assembled in test flanges which are stored at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 150 °C for accelerated ageing. The aged seals are tested repeatedly after certain ageing steps and the leakage rate as indicator for sealing performance, the remaining seal force, and the useable resilience upon decompression are determined. In the poster an update on the performed investigations in respect to earlier publications (Grelle et al. 2019, Goral et al. 2023) will be given and the implications of the results for resilient long term safety will be presented. Additionally, a focus will be laid on the currently planned further investigations and the question “What is additionally needed for evaluation of an interim storage period extension in regard to the used metal seals?” will be addressed.…
Autor*innen: | Matthias JaunichORCiD |
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Koautor*innen: | Milan Goral, Dietmar Wolff, Holger Völzke |
Dokumenttyp: | Posterpräsentation |
Veröffentlichungsform: | Präsentation |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2023 |
Organisationseinheit der BAM: | 3 Gefahrgutumschließungen; Energiespeicher |
3 Gefahrgutumschließungen; Energiespeicher / 3.4 Sicherheit von Lagerbehältern | |
DDC-Klassifikation: | Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten |
Freie Schlagwörter: | Ageing; Interim storage; Metal seal |
Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM: | Energie |
Energie / Kerntechnische Entsorgung | |
Material | |
Material / Degradation von Werkstoffen | |
Veranstaltung: | safeND2023: Forschungssymposium des BASE |
Veranstaltungsort: | Berlin, Germany |
Beginndatum der Veranstaltung: | 13.09.2023 |
Enddatum der Veranstaltung: | 15.09.2023 |
Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments: | Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 16.10.2023 |
Referierte Publikation: | Nein |