Simulation of a Drop onto a Punch of a Transport Container for Fuel Assemblies

International regulations require that a container for the transport of nuclear material has to sustain a 1-meter drop onto a cylindrical punch made of mild steel. It has to be shown that, at all times, the confinement of the radioactive contents is guaranteed. Also, any deformation of the internal arrangement has to be avoided or at least controlled in order to ensure the sub-criticality of the fuel assemblies at all times. LS-DYNA3D models of representative cross sections of two baskets have been developed. The finite element analysis has been validated by successfully calibrating it with an actual drop test. Thus, the most pessimistic configuration of the basket of the package was determined and used for all subsequent safety case studies.