A Wind Shielded Fire Test Facility 1

Sandia National Laboratories1 has utilized pool frres to subject military components and radioactive material shipping containers to postulated transportation accident environments for over thirty years. Because these are usually very high value items, there is typically a single fire test. Because wind produces the biggest, uncontrollable effect on the thermal environment of open pool fires, there is a risk of an invalid test if winds develop during the test. For example, IAEA regulations specify the average speed must be less than 2 m/s.