DEMONSTRATIVE DROP TESTS OF A NATURAL UF, TRANSPORT PACKAGE DURING HANDLING ACCIDENT

Natural Uranium Hexafluoride (UF6 ) is transported in a steel container called 48Y-cylinder. Up to now, various safety experimental and numerical evaluations have been performed to demonstrate the integrity of the 48Y-cylinder itself. During transport, the 48Y-cylinder is supported on the flat rack marine container with exclusive frame, tightening devices and heat protective covers, (hereinafter called a natural UF 6 transport package). In this paper, the drop test and analysis results are presented to demonstrate the integrity of a natural UF6 transport package subjected to drop impact under realistic drop accidents, for example, during handling in the port. Drop test condition was determined by the pre-drop test analysis with OYNA-30 computer code. In 12m horizontal drop analysis onto unyielding surface, the impacted area of the cylinder by the support frame was severely damaged and the maximum deformation strain was reached to the ultimate strain of the material. Therefore, drop height was set to 12m. In the drop test, the dummy weights were installed in the test container and the deformation and acceleration were measured. After the drop test, 48Y-cylinder and the exclusive frame were considerably deformed and the tightening devices were damaged. However the leak-tightness was not lost during the drop test Moreover, the numerical model installed in the OYNA-30 code was also validated. Thus, the integrity of a natural UF6 transport package against a drop impact during handling accident was demonstrated.