IMPACT LIMITER TESTING FOR A TN-40 TRANSPORTATION PACKAGE

Transnuclear, Inc. (TN) has designed a dual purpose TN-40 Cask which is currently licensed as a storage cask for spent nuclear fuel under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements of 10CFR Part 72. The TN-40 Cask is also designed as a transportation package under the NRC requirements of 10CFR Part 71. TN has submitted a transportation license application to the NRC for approval. The NRC requires an applicant to perform drop testing of the transportation package to verify that package can survive the accidental drops and also to provide data on the deformation and accelerations experienced by the package under these drop conditions which then can be used to verify and validate the analytical code models applied in the qualification of the transportation package. TN has performed the dynamic testing of a onethird scale model of the TN-40 Cask with impact limiters to demonstrate that it meets the requirements of 10CFR Part 71 under transportation drop conditions. The test program consisted of fabrication of a one-third scale model of the TN-40 Cask and impact limiters, including attachment tie rods, preparation of test procedures, testing facility with an unyielding impact surface, instrumentation, and data acquisition system. The drops are performed in the order of 0o Side Drop, Center of Gravity (C.G.) over Corner Drop, 20o Slap Down, and 90o End Drop from a 30 foot drop height and a 90o Drop onto a Puncture Bar from a height of 40 inches. New sets of impact limiters are used as necessary during these tests. Calibrated instrumentation was used to collect data and photographs of the test articles were taken before, during and after the test. The impact limiter used for the 90o End Drop test was cooled for at least 24 hours at a temperature of -20o F. The results of these tests demonstrated that the package survived the 10CFR Part 71 drop conditions successfully. The analyses of data collected during these tests confirmed the validity and verification of the analytical code models used in the qualification of the TN-40 Cask.