大容量钴源运输容器屏蔽研究

大容量钴源运输容器为运输工业用钴源而设计的专用设备。由于内容物放射性活度水平很高、衰变热很大,仅有少数国家具有设计能力,在国内的研制尚属首次。在对钴源运输容器的屏蔽设计研制过程中,突破之前的屏蔽设计技术束缚,采用MCAM程序与MCNP程序模拟计算钴源运输容器外的剂量率水平,并在设计过程中及时发现容器存在的设计缺陷,从而进行了设计改进,保证了容器满足国家标准要求的各项设计措施。目前这些设计措施已通过相关的试验验证。结果表明:针对大容量60 Co运输容器的关键技术制定的设计措施合理有效,充分保证了容器在经受国家标准中规定的正常运输条件和运输中事故条件下各项试验后容器屏蔽性能的完整性,确保钴源运输的安全。     

FCTC10型工业辐照~(60)Co运输容器屏蔽测量与评价

FCTC10型容器设计用于装载工业辐照60Co源,在装载18万居里(Ci)60Co放射源时属B(U)型、Ⅲ级(黄)货包。FCTC10型容器由屏蔽容器、吊篮、防护罩与运输托架组成,主要利用屏蔽容器主体和铅塞的钢壳层及其中间填充的钨合金、铅屏蔽层实现货包的屏蔽功能。采用蒙特卡罗方法模拟计算和实验测量相结合的方法给出FCTC10运输容器在满载时的辐射水平,结果表明FCTC10容器满足GB 11806—2004对货包辐射水平的规定。根据运输实践经验假设了工作人员和公众的受照情景,计算出的单次运输工作人员和公众的受照剂量小于设计考虑的剂量约束值,也低于GB 18871—2002对工作人员和公众的剂量限值。在设计基准事故情况下,容器外部局部区域辐射水平增加量不超过1倍,对事故处理人员的剂量很小。     

GY-20型Co60运输容器9m跌落试验成功

2008年12月16日上午10:30,在中国核电工程有限公司大连旅顺核容器试验场,随着一声巨响,GY-20型Co-60包装运输容器9m下落试验宣告成功。此次试验成功将改写我国同位素运输容器产品长期依赖进口的历史,     

钴—60源运输容器安全性分析

根据ＩＡＥＡ安全标准Ｎｏ．６有关规程的要求，采用工程传热学和工程力学分析方法，对未经国标ＧＢ１１８０６８９规定试验的钴６０源运输容器的安全性作了分析。经计算分析得，本容器外表面辐射水平为１．５６ｍＳｖｈ－１，小于ＩＡＥＡ有关规程规定的２ｍＳｖｈ－１限值。容器经改进后，在８００℃火焰中曝射３０分钟，其铅温度为１６６．４℃，小于ＩＡＥＡ有关规程规定的２００℃限值。本容器与国内工业用钴６０源运输容器相比，具有承受正常运输和事故运输条件的能力，其货包的安全性符合ＧＢ１１８０６８９和ＩＡＥＡ的规定要求。     

FCo70-YQ型放射源运输容器耐热试验

FCo70-YQ型放射源运输容器是设计用于运输60Co和137Cs的医用放射源运输容器,设计容器最高装源活度60Co不超过12000C(i444TBq),137Cs不超过8000C(i296TBq)。根据国家标准《放射性物质安全运输规程》(GB 11806ˉ2004)的要求,对FCo70ˉYQ型容器进行了耐热试验。试验中测量到容器本体的最高温度为193.9℃,小于容器屏蔽材料铅的熔点温度327.3℃。试验结果证明了FCo70-YQ型容器热工设计满足国家标准《放射性物质安全运输规程》(GB 11806-2004)的要求。     

乏燃料运输事故中放射性物质的释放机制及途径

符合国际原子能机构《放射性物质安全运输规定》要求的乏燃料运输容器,具有相当高的抗事故能力。但在运输过程中,仍有可能出现超过容器设计基准的冲撞(撞车、撞击山体或其它构筑物)、翻车、火灾等事故,导致乏燃料组件及其运输容器受损,向环境释放出放射性物质;或者导致运输容器屏蔽能力减弱乃至丧失,使意外接近容器的人员或公众受到较高水平的外照射。     

美国为发展新运输容器招标

【美国《核燃料》1986年第11卷第17期第9页报道】美国能源部公布了发展10种屏蔽容器的招标要求。这些容器将用于从反应堆到地质贮存所或受监测可回收贮存设施的乏燃料运输。招标内容包括屏蔽容器的设计、工程、鉴定、试验和原型容器的制造等。能源部预计为它的屏蔽容器发展计划的这部分工作花费7500万美元,其目的是到90     

钴调节棒转运容器屏蔽研究

采用MCAM程序与MCNP程序模拟计算钴调节棒转运容器的表面剂量率,并以此来判断容器的屏蔽设计是否满足标准要求。通过程序系统估算,在容器初始设计模型的基础上将5 cm铅层替换为5cm贫铀防护层,并提出了在容器下部屏蔽门缝隙处增加临时屏蔽装置以降低该处的辐射水平。经过优化设计后,钴调节棒转运容器能够满足国家相应的屏蔽标准要求。现场操作时的实测结果也进一步验证了容器屏蔽设计的合理性和可靠性。     

秦山三期乏燃料运输的放射性源项计算

RY-IA型乏燃料运输容器是为运输101堆乏燃料设计的专用设备。使用该容器运输单个秦山三期乏燃料棒束,需进行屏蔽性能评价。本文使用ORIGEN2程序对单个秦山三期乏燃料棒束进行了放射性源项计算,为屏蔽性能评价提供源项输入数据。计算给出了停堆0时刻至5a,步长0.5a各衰变时间段对     

Research on Target （Source） Preparation Technique With Pulse Electroplating

RY-IA型乏燃料运输容器是为运输101堆乏燃料设计的专用设备。使用该容器运输单个秦山三期乏燃料棒束，需进行屏蔽性能评价。     

Thermal analysis of proposed transport cask for three advanced burner reactor used fuel assemblies

Abstract

Preliminary studies of used fuel generated in the US Department of Energy's Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative have indicated that current used fuel transport casks may be insufficient for the transportation of said fuel. This work considers transport of three 5-year-cooled oxide advanced burner reactor used fuel assemblies with a burn-up of 160 MWD kg^–1. A transport cask designed to carry these assemblies is proposed. This design employs a 7-cm-thick lead gamma shield and a 20-cm-thick NS-4-FR composite neutron shield. The temperature profile within the cask, from its centre to its exterior surface, is determined by two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulations of conduction, convection and radiation within the cask. Simulations are performed for a cask with a smooth external surface and various neutron shield thicknesses. Separate simulations are performed for a cask with a corrugated external surface and a neutron shield thickness that satisfies shielding constraints. Resulting temperature profiles indicate that a three-assembly cask with a smooth external surface will meet fuel cladding temperature requirements but will cause outer surface temperatures to exceed the regulatory limit. A cask with a corrugated external surface will not exceed the limits for both the fuel cladding and outer surface temperatures.     

Safety Concerning Transportation of Spent Fuel

The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) has been conducting, under contract with the Science and Technology Agency of Japan, the spent fuel transport cask reliability demonstration test since 1977 to verify the safety and reliability of spent fuel transport casks. The first phase of this test was completed in 1987.

In this demonstration test, both 50 t and 100 t class of casks, designed and manufactured by current techniques, were subjected to tests to verify the integrity and adequacy of the design and manufacturing techniques through observation of behavior of the cask under test conditions. The casks were subjected to tests under normal conditions and under the accident conditions specified in the Japanese regulations and the IAEA regulations, and also to pressure tests, which were performed from the viewpoint of safety in shipping, although by sea, this is not specified in the Japanese regulations.

From the test results, it was confirmed that the 1001 class cask maintained its integrity and characteristics in conformity with regulations even after accident condition tests. It is clear that the design concept and manufacturing procedure employed for this cask is adequate.     

Vulnerabilities of legacy fuel casks when evaluated using modern structural analysis tools

Abstract

Cylindrical fuel casks often have impact limiters surrounding 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 reducing 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 cost 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.     

Transport of MOX fuel: continuous challenge

Abstract

For 45 years TN International has been involved in the radioactive materials transportation field. Since the beginning the spent nuclear fuel transportation has been its core business. During all these years TN International, now part of AREVA, has been able to anticipate and fulfil the needs for new transport or storage casks design to fit the nuclear industry evolutions. A whole fleet of casks able to transport all the materials of the nuclear fuel cycle has been developed. This paper focuses on the casks used to transport the fresh and used mix oxide (MOX) fuel. To transport the fresh MOX boiling water reactor and pressurised water reactors fuel, TN International has developed two designs of casks: the MX 6 and the MX 8. These casks are and have been used to transport MOX fuel for French, German, Swiss and in a near future Japanese nuclear power plants. A complete set of baskets have been developed to optimise the loading in terms of integrated dose and also of course capacity. Mixed oxide used fuel has now its dedicated cask: the TN 112 which certificate of approval has been obtained in July 2008. This cask is able to transport 12 MOX spent fuel elements with a short cooling time. The first loading of the cask has been performed in September 2008 in the Electricité de France nuclear power plant of Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux. By its continuous involvement in the nuclear transportation field, TN International has been able to face the many challenges linked to the radioactive materials transportation especially talking of MOX fuel. TN International will also have to face the increasing demand linked to the nuclear renaissance.     

Safety of transport of radioactive Material: 2004 in retrospect

Abstract

There are basically two main technologies for the intermediate storage of spent nuclear fuel in Europe: dry storage in casks or vaults and wet storage in pools. The advantage of casks is their modularity and hence investment can be phased to suit the planned dates of loading individual casks, pools and vaults usually provide longer term capacity and thus require a greater initial investment for operators. Transnucléaire has developed a range of modular dry cask solutions for customers and more than 100 examples of the TN 24 type cask have been licensed for transport and storage in Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, the United States of America and Japan. This paper compares the requirements for cask licensing in Europe and the USA and shows how two particular BWR cask designs were developed by Transnucléaire. (1) The TN 97 L cask was designed primarily for the European market and the first use is foreseen at the Leibstadt nuclear power station in Switzerland. (2) The TN 68 cask was designed by Transnuclear Inc. and its first use is foreseen at the Philadelphia Electric Company's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station.     

Safety Margins of Spent Fuel Transport and Storage Casks Considering Aircraft Crash Impacts

Abstract

The safety of spent fuel transport casks in severe accident conditions is always a matter of concern. This paper surveys German missile impact tests that have been carried out in the past to demonstrate that German cask designs for transport and interim storage are safe even under conditions of an aircraft crash impact. A fire test with a cask beside an exploding propane vessel and temperature calculations concerning prolonged fires also show that the casks have reasonably good safety margins in thermal accidents beyond regulatory fire test conditions.     

Comparison of the Structural Integrity of Ductile Iron and Stainless Steel Casks for Transport of Radioactive Material

Abstract

The results are presented of 9 m (30 ft) drop simulations of three different types of transport casks, a monolithic ductile iron (DI) cask, a monolithic stainless steel (SS) cask, and a lead-shielded stainless steel (SS/Pb) sandwich cask. Each simulation involves two casks, one lying horizontally on an unyielding surface and the other positioned 9 m (30 ft) above the top surface of the lower cask. The top cask then free falls onto the lower cask, resulting in a more severe impact than the standard drop test required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The drop tests were simulated using DYNA3D, a non-linear, explicit, three-dimensional finite element code for solid and structural mechanics. The results show that the monolithic casks are much stiffer than the stainless steel/lead sandwich cask. The largest difference was observed between the DI cask and the SS/Pb sandwich cask. Although the SS/Pb cask experiences considerable plastic deformation, none of them experiences failure by rupture, and they all perform within the requirements of Regulatory Guide 7.6, Revision 1 and IOCFR71. The better to compare the results, stress- and strain-based factors of safety were calculated for all of the simulations. These calculations show that the DI cask has a larger margin of safety than the SS/Pb sandwich cask, while the monolithic SS cask has a larger margin of safety than the monolithic DI cask. Finally, to address the concern over the brittleness of the DI casks, critical flaw sizes were calculated. All flaws required for crack propagation were larger than those detectable by current inspection techniques. Overall, the results of this study indicate that DI has sufficient strength, ductility, and fracture toughness to be considered as a structural material for transport casks.     

Dynamic impact characteristics of KN-18 SNF transport cask – Part 1: An advanced numerical simulation and validation technique

Domestic and international regulations for the transportation of radioactive materials strictly prescribe the design requirements for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) transport casks. According to the applicable codes, a transport cask must withstand a free-drop impact of 9 m onto an unyielding surface and a free-drop impact of 1 m onto a mild steel bar. However, the structural performance of a transport cask is not easy to evaluate precisely because the dynamic impact characteristics of the cask, which includes impact limiters to absorb the impact energy, are so complex.     

Internal cask content collisions during drop test of transport casks for radioactive materials

Abstract

In transport casks for radioactive materials, significantly large axial and radial gaps between cask and internal content are often present because of certain specific geometrical dimensions of the content (e.g. spent fuel elements) or thermal reasons. The possibility of inner relative movement between content and cask will increase if the content is not fixed. During drop testing, these movements can lead to internal cask content collisions, causing significantly high loads on the cask components and the content itself. Especially in vertical drop test orientations onto a lid side of the cask, an internal collision induced by a delayed impact of the content onto the inner side of the lid can cause high stress peaks in the lid and the lid bolts with the risk of component failure as well as impairment of the leak tightness of the closure system. This paper reflects causes and effects of the phenomenon of internal impact on the basis of experimental results obtained from instrumented drop tests with transport casks and on the basis of analytical approaches. Furthermore, the paper concludes the importance of consideration of possible cask content collisions in the safety analysis of transport casks for radioactive materials under accident conditions of transport.