Half and full scale drop tests for qualification of CONSTOR® casks as type B(U)F packages

The CONSTOR® steel-sandwich cask was developed as a cost-effective design by using conventional mechanical engineering technologies and commonly available materials. The CONSTOR® consists of a cask body with an outer and an inner shell made of steel. At the upper end, the shells are welded to a ring made of forged steel. The space between the two shells is filled with heavy concrete for gamma and neutron shielding. The liner of the casks and the forged head ring form the basis for the structural integrity, the concrete bears only a menial part of accident loads. The CONSTOR® concept fulfils both the internationally valid IAEA criteria for transportation and the requirements for long-term intermediate storage in the US and various European countries. Since the beginning of the development of the CONSTOR® design, two drop test series have already been performed and a third one is being planned to start in 2004: 1997 A drop test program containing 9m- and 1m-pin-drops was performed with the CONSTOR® VB-1, a 1:2 model of a CONSTOR® RBMK 1500 that was designed for the storage of RBMK fuel in Lithuania. To date, 60 CONSTOR® casks have been delivered to the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. In 2001, the CONSTOR® received a type B(U)F license in the Czech Republic.