Made in the 1980s, this film shows the accident testing of spent nuclear fuel casks or flasks by fire, puncture, impact and immersion in water. The film shows the steps taken to evaluate the safety of casks by Sandia Corp under the auspices of the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Part of the film at 2:40 discusses the types of simulation technology available in this era, where computer models were not highly developed. At 2:45, a punch card computer is used to analyze the problem. At 4:19, scale model testing is shown including in a centrifuge. At 5:13, a scale model test using a rocket sled is shown. At 6:55, full scale tests are shown to demonstrate the upper limit in credible accidents with the casks. At 7:14, a 60 mile per hour crash with a tractor trailer is simulated (run into a solid concrete wall) with the cask sustaining minor damage and not losing containment credibility. At 8:00, the scale model test is shown relative to the full scale test. At secondary test at 84 miles per hour is then shown at 8:33. At 8:45, a rocket-powered diesel locomotive is crashed into a “stalled truck” at 81 mph. The cask becomes airborne on impact but is not deformed, a result similar to that of the scale model simulation. At 9:45, a railroad cask car hits a concrete abutment at over 85 miles per hour and again, the cask is not deformed.
A nuclear flask is a shipping container that is used to transport active nuclear materials between nuclear power station and spent fuel reprocessing facilities.
Each shipping container is designed to maintain its integrity under normal transportation conditions and during hypothetical accident conditions. They must protect their contents against damage from the outside world, such as impact or fire. They must also contain their contents from leakage, both for physical leakage and for radiological shielding.
In the United States, the acceptability of the design of each cask is judged against Title 10, Part 71, of the Code of Federal Regulations (other nations’ shipping casks, possibly excluding Russia’s, are designed and tested to similar standards (International Atomic Energy Agency “Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material” No. TS-R-1)). The designs must demonstrate (possibly by computer modelling) protection against radiological release to the environment under all four of the following hypothetical accident conditions, designed to encompass 99% of all accidents:
A 9-meter (30 ft) free fall onto an unyielding surface
A puncture test allowing the container to free-fall 1 meter (about 39 inches) onto a steel rod 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) in diameter
A 30-minute, all-engulfing fire at 800 degrees Celsius (1475 degrees Fahrenheit)
An 8-hour immersion under 0.9 meter (3 ft) of water.
Further, an undamaged package must be subjected to a one-hour immersion under 200 meters (655 ft) of water.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
