SEARAM: A DOE EVALUATION OF MARITIME ACCIDENT RISK ASSESSMENT DATA AND METHODS

The SeaRAM Program conducted for the US Department of Energy by Sandia National Laboratories has developed estimates of • the frequencies of occurrence of ship fires and ship collisions, • the fraction of all ship fires and ship collisions that might' be sufficiently severe to challenge the integrity of a Type B spent fuel transportation cask, • the magnitude of the radioactive source terms that might be released from a Type B spent fuel transportation cask due to loss of cask integrity, and • the magnitude of the radiological consequences that might be caused by the radioactive release. Estimates of the frequencies of ship collisions and ship fires were developed by analysis of 15 years of Lloyd's casualty data and 2 non-contiguous years of Lloyd's port call data. Estimates of the fraction of all ship collisions that might be severe enough to challenge the integrity of a T-ype B RAM transport cask carried on the struck ship were developed (a) by analyzing the depth of penetration into the hull of the struck ship using Minorsky's correlation of collision damage with collision energy and (b) by performing finite element calculations that showed that crush forces were most likely to be dissipated by collapse of ship rather than cask structures. Estimates of the fraction of all fires that might be severe enough to both spread to the RAM hold and there bum hot enough and long enough to damage a Type B cask were developed by performing shipboard fire tests, by modeling those tests, and by constructing simple models of the spread of fires through a ship bulkhead and through a series of ship holds. Estimates of maritime accident source terms were developed by modeling aerosol and