Measurement of the Acceleration Undergone by the Trunnions of Irradiated Fuel Transport Flasks During Normal Use

Spent fuel casks are generally transported in horizontal position, tied down to the conveyance frame by their handling trunnions. These trunnions have therefore to be designed to resist not only handling forces but also those resulting from cask tiedown. In particular they must resist maximum forces, but also repeated forces of lower value which may induce damage by fatigue. It is the task of the designers to show that these requirements are met. It is also necessary to evaluate the maximum flaw size allowable and for this the designers have to perform a crack propagation analysis.