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Germany had been transporting spent fuel to the reprocessing plant in Sellafield and La Hague for decades until around 2005. Resulting from the obligation to take back the vitrified high-level waste from reprocessing six CASTOR® HAW28M filled with 168 canisters with radioactive waste in vitrified form were transported from Sellafield to the interim storage facility Biblis in 2020. Rail wagons were used for the transport to the port in Barrow-in-Furness, where they were loaded into a dedicated seagoing vessel, certified as INF Class 3 according to the INF Code. This was the first time that vitrified high level waste with considerable heat load was transported under a German design approval certificate.
BAM was involved in the authority assessment of the conditions for the sea transport. For the first transport BAM required among others, assessment of temperature distribution during transport, logging of temperatures of cargo bays and graphical imaging of temperatures of the bay with the cask in order to ensure compliance with temperature specifications, e.g. maximal neutron absorber and gasket temperatures. Special interest was taken in the identification of possible events exceeding the specified temperatures considering the different philosophies of IMDG code and its supplement INF code regarding temperature control of hatches. Results show compliance with assumed conditions.
As part of the evaluation of a package for the safe transport of radioactive waste the regulations of the IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency shall be fulfilled. The regulations define requirements for the package and specify mechanical and thermal test conditions. Different methods are allowed for the test performance to demonstrate compliance with the regulations. Next to calculational approaches and the use of models of an appropriate scale, the performance of full-scale testing with prototype packages respectively full-scale models is applied.
The use of full-scale models has several advantages within the complete safety assessment procedure for a transport package approval. Scaling and corresponding similarity questions don’t have to be considered, additional material investigations can be limited and analyses to transfer test results to the original package design are reduced in number and complexity. Additionally, experience for future serial design procedures can be built up during manufacturing and assembling of the test model.
BAM operates different drop and fire test facilities south of Berlin, Germany. BAM has started to perform a drop test campaign with a full-scale model of 120 metric tons weight for a transport package approval procedure. The paper describes experience with test preparation, drop performance and additional analyses. The measurement concept is explained and test goals regarding the package safety assessment and evaluation of safety margins are introduced.
Packages for the transport of radioactive materials shall fulfil the requirements of the IAEA regulations for the safe transport. The requirements define mechanical and thermal test conditions including criteria ensuring the package design’s ability to withstand severe accidents and provide a high level of technical safety. Different methods can be used for safety demonstration showing compliance with the regulations.
The central part of a safety demonstration which is presented in this paper was a comprehensive drop test program with a full-scale model of a transport package accompanied by pre- and post-test FE analyses. Using full-scale drop test models allow the benefit that similarity and scaling issues become a significant smaller issue, additional material investigations can be limited and analyses for transferring test results to the original package design are reduced. Additionally, experience for the future serial packaging manufacturing and handling procedures can be collected in a very early state of the design approval process. The pre-test finite element analyses derived and justified the drop test program consisting of several drop sequences with different drop orientations of the specimen. The performance and the results of the drop test sequences shows the manageability and the advantage e.g., in view of the direct availability of test results for the package licensing. On the other hand, the drop test performance shows the difficulties during handling and the need for additional equipment during preparation of the specimen.
The package presented was intended for the transport and storage of compacted radioactive waste from reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel assemblies - designed and applied for approval by the AGC consortium. The project ended in 2021. The package design was characterized by a cask body made of a forged thick stainless-steel shell, a bolted double lid system with metallic gaskets and wood filled shock absorbers at both ends. The total mass of the entire transport package including content was 120,000 kg, the total length was about 7000 mm and the diameter approximately
3000 mm, both measures include the shock absorbers.
The paper provides an insight into the performance of a full-scale drop testing campaign within the package safety evaluation and shows some selected test results.
The properties of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) rods change significantly during their operation life in the reactor core. Further changes occur after their discharge mainly due to the heating-cooling processes and possible ageing associated with the cumulative effects of radioactive decay induce damage in the fuel. Such changes may affect the response of the SNF rods to mechanical solicitations corresponding to normal and accidental conditions.
Research activities at JRC-KARLSRUHE aim at assessing the integrity of SNF rods and processes which might affect their mechanical properties during their interim storage, transport or other handling operations. JRC Hot Cell facilities have been fully adapted to fulfil the experimental goals. The number of experiments that can be performed, however, is limited and there is an acute need to model them, using this process to validate codes, to deeper understand and to extend the results gained at the JRC beyond the conditions that have been tested. For the experimental campaigns two devices for gravitational impact and 3-point bending tests were developed and installed in a hot cell. Segments of real SNF rods pressurized at their original pressures after discharge have been investigated. The setup is fully operational and new results are reported continuously.