9m Drop Test by 1/3 Scale Model of the High Performance Spent Fuel Shipping Cask

The High Performance Spent Fuel Shipping Cask (HP-Cask) has been developed for the domestic transportation of spent fuel to the Rokkasho Reprocessing plant, which is expected to be operated in near future. The HP-Cask is designed in consideration of high burn-up fuel and maximizing the contents (number of the fuel assemblies). The HP-Cask was designed to absorb the impact energy of a 9m horizontal drop test by the external fins in addition to the impact limiters. In impact analysis performed in the design stage, deceleration and deformation were calculated by superposing those of both impact limiters and fins. The former was calculated by computer code CRUSH and the latter was calculated by using the results of the fin impact test performed prior to the test. The 9m drop test was carried out by mean of the 1/3 scale model of the HP-Cask to confirm the propriety of the design and to verify the analysis method based on the design.