A Guide to Thermal Analysis and Testing

The Transport Container Standardisation Committee (TCSC) is a UK nuclear industry group whose main function is to examine the requirements for the safe transport of radioactive material with a view to standardisation and, as appropriate, produce and maintain guidance documentation. The Code of Practice “Thermal Analysis and Testing of Transport Package”, TCSC 1093, was published in March 2012 following an extensive review lead by SERCO (now AMEC), peer review and approval by the TCSC committee. Thermal performance is an important aspect of the design of any transport package and a key feature in regulatory testing and approval. The code of practice provides guidance on the thermal testing and analysis of packages, to supplement and support the information provided in the IAEA Regulations and the accompanying advisory material. It is intended to assist packaging designers in selecting their approach to thermal testing, as well as experimentalists performing thermal tests, and analysts modelling the thermal performance of transport packages. It describes what is required from a thermal assessment and the issues which should be considered. It also provides guidance on which method (i.e. testing or analysis) might be most appropriate for different types of package. This paper provides an overview to the content of the guide to the thermal analysis and testing of transport packages, and includes topics such as: • How to choose whether to perform practical tests or just numerical analysis • Good practice when performing practical tests for normal conditions of transport • Good practice when performing practical tests for accident conditions of transport (the fire test) • Whether to use a CFD code or FE code for analysis and the selection of a suitable computer code • Advice on the specification of material properties • Advice on the application of boundary conditions • Advice on modelling normal conditions of transport • Advice on modelling accident conditions of transport • Advice on whether models should be best estimate or pessimistic