Spent Nuclear Fuel Transportation Package Seals in Beyond Design Basis Temperature Excursions

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Gonzalez ◽  
Christopher Bajwa ◽  
Robert Einziger ◽  
Earl Easton ◽  
Jiann Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Experimental Testing ◽  
Extreme Temperature ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Thermal Testing ◽  
Design Basis

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is studying the performance of seals in spent nuclear fuel (SNF) transportation packages exposed to fires that could exceed the hypothetical accident condition fire described in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 71, such as the Baltimore Tunnel Fire that occurred in 2001, or the MacArthur Maze fire that occurred in 2007. The performance of package seals is important for determining the potential for release of radioactive material from a package during a beyond-design-basis accident. Seals generally have lower temperature limits than other package components and are the containment barrier between the environment and the radioactive package contents. The NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research contracted the National Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct small-scale thermal testing to obtain experimental data of the performance of seals during extreme temperature exposures. The experimental testing consisted of several small-scale pressure vessels fabricated with a modified ASME flange design and tested metallic and polymeric seals, similar to those that might be used on an actual SNF transportation package. The vessels were heated in an electrical oven to temperatures as high as 800°C (1472°F), exceeding the rated temperatures of the seals in question. This paper will provide a summary of the testing conducted and present test results and conclusions.

Used Nuclear Fuel Transportation Package Seal Performance in Beyond Design Basis Thermal Conditions

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Gonzalez ◽  
Christopher Bajwa ◽  
Robert Einziger ◽  
Earl Easton ◽  
Jiann Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Experimental Testing ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Thermal Testing ◽  
Design Basis

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is evaluating the performance of seals in used fuel transportation packages during beyond-design-basis fires, similar to the Baltimore tunnel fire that occurred in 2001. The performance of package seals is important for determining the potential for a release of radioactive material from a package during a beyond-design-basis accident. Seals generally have lower temperature limits than other package components and are often part of the containment barrier between the environment and the cask contents. The NRC’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) funded the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to conduct small-scale thermal testing to obtain experimental data of the performance of seals during beyond-design basis temperature exposures. The experimental testing consisted of several small-scale pressure vessels fabricated with a modified ASME flange design, using commercial grade metallic seals, similar to those that might be used on an actual spent nuclear fuel transportation package. The vessels were heated in an electrical furnace for exposures up to 9 hours (hrs) at temperatures as high as 800°C (1472°F), which far exceeded the rated temperature of the seals in question. This paper will provide a summary of the testing completed as well as the preliminary results and conclusions of the experiments performed by NIST.

Analysis of the Impact of a Tunnel Fire Environment on a Spent Nuclear Fuel Transportation Cask

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Bajwa
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Tunnel Fire ◽  
Accident Conditions ◽  
The Impact

On July 18, 2001, a train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire in the Howard Street railroad tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland. Due to this accident, questions were raised about the performance of spent nuclear fuel transportation casks under severe fire conditions, similar to those experienced in the Baltimore tunnel fire. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) evaluates the performance of spent fuel transportation casks under accident conditions. Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 71 section 73(c)(4), (10 CFR 71.73(c)(4)) requires that transportation packages used to ship radioactive material must be designed to resist an engulfing fire of a 30 minute duration and prevent release of radioactive material to the environment. The staff of the NRC, in cooperation with the National Transportation Safety Board, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Pacific Northwest National Labs and the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analysis, have undertaken an analysis to determine the thermal conditions present in the Howard Street tunnel fire, as well as analyze the effects that such a fire would have on a spent fuel transportation cask. This paper describes the analytic models used in the assessment and presents a discussion of the results.

An Analysis of a Spent Fuel Transportation Cask Under Severe Fire Accident Conditions

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Bajwa
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Severe Fire ◽  
Tunnel Fire ◽  
Accident Conditions ◽  
Regulatory Commission ◽  
Fire Accident

Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 71 section 73(c)(4), (10 CFR 71.73(c)(4)) requires that transportation packages used to ship radioactive material must be designed to resist an engulfing fire of a 30 minute duration and prevent release of radioactive material to the environment. In July, 2001, a derailed train carrying hazardous materials caught fire in a railroad tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland, and burned for several days. Although the occurrence of a fire of such duration during the shipment of spent nuclear fuel is unlikely, questions were raised about the performance of spent nuclear fuel casks under conditions similar to those experienced in the Baltimore tunnel fire incident. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission evaluates the performance of spent fuel transportation casks under accident conditions. The National Transportation Safety Board is responsible for investigating railroad accidents and identifying the probable cause(s) and offers recommendations for safety improvements. They are currently investigating the Baltimore tunnel fire accident. This paper assesses the performance of a spent fuel transportation cask with a welded canister under severe fire conditions. The paper describes the analytic model used for the assessment and presents a discussion of the preliminary results.

Potential Effects of Historic Rail Accidents on the Integrity of Spent Nuclear Fuel Transportation Packages

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Bajwa ◽  
Earl P. Easton
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Hazardous Materials ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Material Transport ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
The Us ◽  
Regulatory Commission

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an analysis of historical rail accidents (from 1975 to 2005) involving hazardous materials and long duration fires in the United States. The analysis was initiated to determine what types of accidents had occurred and what impact those types of accidents could have on the rail transport of spent nuclear fuel. The NRC found that almost 21 billion miles of freight rail shipments over a 30 year period had resulted in a small number of accidents involving the release of hazardous materials, eight of which involved long duration fires. All eight of the accidents analyzed resulted in fires that were less severe than the “fully engulfing fire” described as a hypothetical accident condition in the NRC regulations for radioactive material transport found in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 71, Section 73. None of the eight accidents involved a release of radioactive material. This paper describes the eight accidents in detail and examines the potential effects on spent nuclear fuel transportation packages exposed to the fires that resulted from these accidents.

Risk Perspectives on Rail Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Bajwa ◽  
Earl P. Easton
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Hazardous Materials ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rail Transport ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Material Transport ◽  
Long Duration

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed a study of historical rail accidents (from 1975 to 2005) involving hazardous materials and long duration fires in the United States. The study was initiated to determine what types of accidents had actually occurred, and what type of impact those types of accidents could have on the rail transport of spent nuclear fuel. The NRC found that almost 21 billion miles of rail shipments has yielded only a small number of accidents involving hazardous materials, eight of which involved both hazardous materials and long duration fires. The NRC reviewed these eight accidents in detail to determine what types of effects these accidents might have on a spent fuel cask, should one have been involved. The staff determined that the fires witnessed in the accidents studied would not have provided a fully engulfing fire environment as described by the hypothetical accident condition fire in NRC regulations for radioactive material transport found in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 71, Section 73. This paper will detail the NRC study of these accidents and conclusions regarding effects on transportation casks exposed to the fires that resulted from these accidents.

The MacArthur Maze Fire and Roadway Collapse: A “Worst Case Scenario” for Spent Nuclear Fuel Transportation?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Bajwa ◽  
Earl P. Easton ◽  
Harold Adkins ◽  
Judith Cuta ◽  
Nicholas Klymyshyn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Steel Structure ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Severe Accident ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Regulatory Commission

In 2007, a severe transportation accident occurred near Oakland, California, at the interchange known as the “MacArthur Maze.” The accident involved a double tanker truck of gasoline overturning and bursting into flames. The subsequent fire reduced the strength of the supporting steel structure of an overhead interstate roadway causing the collapse of portions of that overpass onto the lower roadway in less than 20 minutes. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has analyzed what might have happened had a spent nuclear fuel transportation package been involved in this accident, to determine if there are any potential regulatory implications of this accident to the safe transport of spent nuclear fuel in the United States. This paper provides a summary of this effort, presents preliminary results and conclusions, and discusses future work related to the NRC’s analysis of the consequences of this type of severe accident.

Severe Transportation Accidents: Impacts of Severe Fires on Radioactive Material Transportation

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Bajwa ◽  
Earl P. Easton ◽  
Darrell S. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Fire Investigation ◽  
Radioactive Materials ◽  
The Us ◽  
Material Transportation ◽  
Safe Transport ◽  
Regulatory Commission ◽  
Loss Of Strength

In 2007, a severe transportation accident occurred in Oakland, California in what is commonly known as the “MacArthur Maze” section of Interstate 580 (I-580). The accident involved a tractor trailer carrying gasoline that impacted an overpass support column and burst into flames. The subsequent fire burned for over 2 hours and led to the collapse of the overpass due to the loss of strength in the structural steel that supported the overpass. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) studied this accident to examine any potential regulatory implications related to the safe transport of radioactive materials, including spent nuclear fuel. This paper will discuss the details of the NRC’s MacArthur Maze fire investigation.

scholarly journals Recent Progress on the Standardized DOE Spent Nuclear Fuel Canister

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Keith Morton ◽  
Spencer D. Snow ◽  
Tom E. Rahl ◽  
Tom J. Hill ◽  
Richard P. Morissette
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
American Society ◽  
Interim Storage

The Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a set of containers for the handling, interim storage, transportation, and disposal in the national repository of DOE spent nuclear fuel (SNF). This container design, referred to as the standardized DOE SNF canister or standardized canister, was developed by the Department’s National Spent Nuclear Fuel Program (NSNFP) working in conjunction with the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) and the DOE spent fuel sites. This canister had to have a standardized design yet be capable of accepting virtually all of the DOE SNF, be placed in a variety of storage and transportation systems, and still be acceptable to the repository. Since specific design details regarding the storage, transportation, and repository disposal of DOE SNF were not finalized, the NSNFP recognized the necessity to specify a complete DOE SNF canister design. This allowed other evaluations of canister performance and design to proceed as well as providing standardized canister users adequate information to proceed with their work. This paper is an update of a paper [1] presented to the 1999 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Pressure Vessels and Piping (PVP) Conference. It discusses recent progress achieved in various areas to enhance acceptance of this canister not only by the DOE complex but also fabricators and regulatory agencies.

New ASME Rules for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High Level Radioactive Material and Waste Storage Containments

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph S. Hill ◽  
Gerald M. Foster
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
The Body ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Waste Storage ◽  
American Society ◽  
High Level

In 2004, a new Code Case, N-717, of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (Code) will be published. The new Code Case provides rules for construction of containments used for storage of spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive material and waste. Some time after publication, CC N-717 will be incorporated into the body of the Code. This paper provides an informative insight to the Code Case so that Owners, regulators, designers, and fabricators have a more comprehensive understanding.

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