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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

FUEL CASK IMPACT LIMITER VULNERABILITIES

Journal Article · · Journal of Packaging, Transport, Storage, and Security of Radioactive Material
OSTI ID:947623

Cylindrical fuel casks often have impact limiters surrounding just the ends of the cask shaft in a typical 'dumbbell' arrangement. The primary purpose of these impact limiters is to absorb energy to reduce loads on the cask structure during impacts associated with a severe accident. Impact limiters are also credited in many packages with protecting closure seals and maintaining lower peak temperatures during fire events. For this credit to be taken in safety analyses, the impact limiter attachment system must be shown to retain the impact limiter following Normal Conditions of Transport (NCT) and Hypothetical Accident Conditions (HAC) impacts. Large casks are often certified by analysis only because of the costs associated with testing. Therefore, some cask impact limiter attachment systems have not been tested in real impacts. A recent structural analysis of the T-3 Spent Fuel Containment Cask found problems with the design of the impact limiter attachment system. Assumptions in the original Safety Analysis for Packaging (SARP) concerning the loading in the attachment bolts were found to be inaccurate in certain drop orientations. This paper documents the lessons learned and their applicability to impact limiter attachment system designs.

Research Organization:
SRS
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-08SR22470
OSTI ID:
947623
Report Number(s):
M-RPT-G-00001
Journal Information:
Journal of Packaging, Transport, Storage, and Security of Radioactive Material, Journal Name: Journal of Packaging, Transport, Storage, and Security of Radioactive Material
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English