380-B Transport Packaging Testing for NRC and IAEA Compliance

AREVA Federal Services LLC, under contract to the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s OffsiteSource Recovery Program, has developed a new Type B(U)-96 package for the transport of unwanted or abandoned radioactive sealed sources. The Offsite Source Recovery Program recovers US origin sources domestically and internationally in the interest of national security, public health and safety. The package, denoted the 380-B, is designed to accommodate the sources within internal gamma shields, including those with gamma shields having unknown condition. The package includes gamma shielding and provides leak tight containment. Certification testing for the 380-B was performed on half-scale impact limiters using one dummy cask and four impact limiters. A test plan was developed that identified the specific free drop and puncture tests necessary to evaluate both 10 CFR 71 and SSR-6 requirements. The NRC regulations state that the free drop impact takes place before the puncture test, while the IAEA tests must be completed in a sequence such that any damage suffered is the worst-case for the following thermal testing. A total of three 9-m (30-ft) HAC free drops, and four 1-m (40-inch) puncture drops were performed. Free drop accelerations were recorded for use in finite element model benchmarking and other structural analyses. The deformations of the impact limiters that could have an effect on performance in the HAC fire event were also recorded. This paper reviews the test planning and results with a discussion of how the NRC and IAEA tests were combined.