Development of Assessment Methods for Transport and Storage Containers with Higher Content of Metallic Recycling Material

The mechanical behaviour of transport and storage containers made of ductile cast iron melted with higher content of metallic recycling material from decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installations is investigated. With drop tests of cubic container-like models, the influence of different real targets on the stresses in the cask body and the fracture behaviour is examined. A test stand foundation is suggested, which can be manufactured simply and improves the reproducibility of the test results strongly. The test objects are partially equipped with artificial cracklike defects. Dynamic fracture mechanics analyses of these defects were performed by means of finite element calculations to uncover safety margins. Numerous test results show depending on the requirements that containers for final disposal can be built by means of a ductile cast iron with fracture toughness more than half under the lower bound value for the licensed material qualities yet. The application limits of the material are determined also by the opportunities of the safety assessment methods. This project supports the application of brittle fracture safe transport and storage packages for radioactive materials as recommended in App. VI of the Advisory Material for the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (IAEA No. TS-G-1.1).