Thermal Analysis of the SWTC-285 and –150 Transport Containers

Nirex is developing transport container designs capable of transporting the UK’s intermediate level waste packages from their sites of arising to future waste management facilities. The transport package described in this paper is the Standard Waste Transport Container. Two types of SWTC have been investigated to date, with wall thicknesses of 285mm and 150mm. These are referred to as the SWTC-285 and SWTC-150 respectively. This paper describes the assessment of the thermal performance of the SWTC-285 and SWTC-150. The temperature of the containers both during normal transport and the regulatory thermal test are assessed using a Finite Element model. The distortion of the container due to thermal stresses during the thermal test is also calculated and the resulting gap at the lid seals determined.