The MacArthur Maze Fire and Roadway Collapse: Consequences for SNF Transportation - 12476
- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20005 (United States)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States)
In 2007, a severe transportation accident occurred near Oakland, California, on a section of Interstate 880 known as the 'MacArthur Maze', involving a tractor trailer carrying gasoline which impacted an overpass support column and burst into flames. The subsequent fire caused the collapse of portions of the Interstate 580 overpass onto the remains of the tractor-trailer in less than 20 minutes, due to a reduction of strength in the structural steel exposed to the fire. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the process of examining the impacts of this accident on the performance of a spent nuclear fuel transportation package, using detailed analysis models, in order to determine the potential regulatory implications related to the safe transport of spent nuclear fuel in the United States. This paper will provide a summary of this effort and present results and conclusions. The detailed thermal models of the MacArthur Maze fire scenario with ANSYS and COBRASFS have produced preliminary results indicating that in a fire of this severity, the peak fuel cladding temperature would almost certainly exceed the short-term limit of 570 deg. C (1058 deg. F), and would likely exceed the Zircaloy burst temperature limit of 750 deg. C (1382 deg. F) assumed in previous transportation studies. Additional work is needed to refine and verify some of the details of these complex models, but the overall results are consistent with previous fire analyses with similar models, and with the results obtained for the HAC fire evaluations with these models. These results as well as future results produced by these models can therefore be considered as reliable estimates of the temperatures that would be experienced in fire conditions of the severity of the MacArthur Maze fire scenario. The structural analyses show that the GA-4 package is robust enough to withstand the impact of the overhead span without suffering major damage or deformation to the containment boundary. The greatest potential for local package damage in this scenario appears to be at the bolted closure end. The thermal expansion response of the closure bolts and impact limiter attachment bolts were evaluated in a separate analysis, and it was determined that both the lid and impact limiters are expected to remain in place. The response of the closure seal is currently being evaluated separately in the context of the accident's overall potential to release radioactive material in the environment. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22293701
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-14-WM-12476; TRN: US14V1357115225
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2012: Waste Management 2012 conference on improving the future in waste management, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 1 Mar 2012; Other Information: Country of input: France; 16 refs.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The MacArthur Maze Fire and Roadway Collapse: Consequences for SNF Transportation - 12476
The MacArthur Maze Fire and Roadway Collapse: A "Worst Case Scenario" for Spent Nuclear Fuel Transportation?