Key Issues
Experience, Testing Confirm Transportation of Used Nuclear Fuel Is Safe, Reliable
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The NRC Requires Tests of Used Fuel Containers
The NRC must approve containers that transport used nuclear fuel. Before the agency certifies container designs, they must meet rigorous engineering and safety criteria. In addition, the container designs must be able to pass a sequence of hypothetical accident tests involving forces greater than they would experience in actual accidents.
These NRC-required tests have included:
In addition to the tests required for NRC certification, engineers and scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico conducted a wide range of tests on used nuclear fuel transportation containers in the 1970s and 1980s. These tests included:
In all cases, post-crash assessments showed that the containers, although slightly dented and charred, would not have released their contents.
The NRC also conducted a study in 1987 to evaluate further the ability of used fuel transport containers to withstand real accidents. Using data from severe accidents of all kinds, the NRC concluded that transport containers designed to NRC requirements would withstand actual accidents.
Other Sandia tests evaluated a terrorist attack, subjecting a container to a device 30 times more powerful than a typical anti-tank weapon. The test resulted in a quarter-inch-diameter hole through the primary containment wall.
The NRC estimates that such a hole would have resulted in the release of less than 10 grams—about one-third of an ounce—of used fuel.
In combination with actual testing, transportation container manufacturers use computer programs and scale models to evaluate the containers’ protective capabilities and verify—with a substantial margin of safety—that the containers meet NRC and international requirements. For example, drop testing of full-scale and partial-scale transportation containers in Germany and Japan have validated previous simulations.
NRC regulations also require the establishment of a security plan to ship used nuclear fuel safely to the used fuel repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., and implementation of this plan before shipments begin. The shipper will track and monitor these shipments carefully over the entire route. The agency must review and approve the plan and procedures to protect against radiological sabotage or theft in advance.
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The NRC Requires Tests of Used Fuel Containers
The NRC must approve containers that transport used nuclear fuel. Before the agency certifies container designs, they must meet rigorous engineering and safety criteria. In addition, the container designs must be able to pass a sequence of hypothetical accident tests involving forces greater than they would experience in actual accidents.
These NRC-required tests have included:
- a 30-foot free fall onto an unyielding surface, which would be equivalent to a head-on crash at 120 mph into a concrete bridge abutment
- a puncture test allowing the container to fall 40 inches onto a steel rod 6 inches in diameter
- a 30-minute exposure to fire at 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit that engulfs the entire container
- submerging the same container under 50 feet of water.
In addition to the tests required for NRC certification, engineers and scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico conducted a wide range of tests on used nuclear fuel transportation containers in the 1970s and 1980s. These tests included:
- running a flatbed tractor-trailer carrying a container into a concrete wall at 84 mph
- placing a container on a rail car and driving it into a concrete wall at 81 mph
- placing a container on a tractor-trailer and broadsiding it by a train traveling at 80 mph.
In all cases, post-crash assessments showed that the containers, although slightly dented and charred, would not have released their contents.
The NRC also conducted a study in 1987 to evaluate further the ability of used fuel transport containers to withstand real accidents. Using data from severe accidents of all kinds, the NRC concluded that transport containers designed to NRC requirements would withstand actual accidents.
Other Sandia tests evaluated a terrorist attack, subjecting a container to a device 30 times more powerful than a typical anti-tank weapon. The test resulted in a quarter-inch-diameter hole through the primary containment wall.
The NRC estimates that such a hole would have resulted in the release of less than 10 grams—about one-third of an ounce—of used fuel.
In combination with actual testing, transportation container manufacturers use computer programs and scale models to evaluate the containers’ protective capabilities and verify—with a substantial margin of safety—that the containers meet NRC and international requirements. For example, drop testing of full-scale and partial-scale transportation containers in Germany and Japan have validated previous simulations.
NRC regulations also require the establishment of a security plan to ship used nuclear fuel safely to the used fuel repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., and implementation of this plan before shipments begin. The shipper will track and monitor these shipments carefully over the entire route. The agency must review and approve the plan and procedures to protect against radiological sabotage or theft in advance.
Pages 1 2 3