MULTIPURPOSE FRESH FUEL PACKAGE

A multipurpose fresh fuel package was developed to handle both transportation requirements as well as plant storage requirements. The system was designed so a simple outer package protected an inner container that was used to store the fuel. The inner container was unique in that it had to protect the fuel during a facility fire event. The need for fire protection of the inner container required the movement of the fire protection functions of the outer container to the inner container. The outer package, or overpack, provided the primary drop and puncture protection. The design was simplified to allow complete interchangeability of the inner container with the overpacks as well as interchangeability of the fuel support system within the package with any other package. The need for interchangeability was driven by the need for only a few overpacks and several hundred inner packages. The system was developed by testing an engineering prototype. The lessons learned from the extensive testing of the prototype allowed fabrication of full scale certification test units that underwent operational and regulatory testing. Both full scale drop tests and fire testing were performed.