Radioactive particulate release associated with the DOT specification 6M container under hypothetical accident conditions

Technical Report · Sat Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6011633· OSTI ID:6011633

Taylor, J M; Raney, P J

A testing program was conducted to determine the leakage of depleted uranium dioxide powder (DUO) from the inner containment components of the US Department of Transportation's (DOT) specification 6M container under hypothetical accident conditions. Depleted uranium dioxide was selected as a surrogate for plutonium oxide because of the similarities in the powder characteristics, density and particle size, and because of the special handling and special facilities required for plutonium oxide. The DUO was packaged inside food pack cans in three different configurations inside the 2R vessel of the 6M container. The amount of DUO powder leakage ranged from none detectable (<2 x 10/sup -7/ g) to a high of 1 x 10/sup -3/ g. The combination of gravity, vibration and pressure produced the highest leakage of DUO. Containers that had hermetic seals (leak rates <6 x 10/sup -4/ atm cc/min) did not leak any detectable amount (<2 x 10/sup -7/ g) of DUO under the test conditions. Impact forces had no effect on the leakage of particles with the packaging configurations used. 23 refs., 24 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6011633
• Report Number(s): PNL-5747; ON: DE86007449
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACCIDENTS
SIMULATION
CONTAINERS
LEAKS
URANIUM DIOXIDE
DEPLETED URANIUM
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
POWDERS
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
DATA
ELEMENTS
INFORMATION
METALS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
URANIUM
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM OXIDES
050900* - Nuclear Fuels- Transport
Handling
&amp; Storage
054000 - Nuclear Fuels- Health &amp; Safety