Safety Concerning Transportation of Spent Fuel

Abstract

The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) has been conducting, under contract with the Science and Technology Agency of Japan, the spent fuel transport cask reliability demonstration test since 1977 to verify the safety and reliability of spent fuel transport casks. The first phase of this test was completed in 1987.In this demonstration test, both 50 t and 100 t class of casks, designed and manufactured by current techniques, were subjected to tests to verify the integrity and adequacy of the design and manufacturing techniques through observation of behavior of the cask under test conditions. The casks were subjected to tests under normal conditions and under the accident conditions specified in the Japanese regulations and the IAEA regulations ,and also to pressure tests, which were performed from the viewpoint of safety in shipping, although by sea, this is not specified in the Japanese regulations.From the test results, it was confirmed that the 100 t class cask maintained its integrity and characteristics in conformity with regulations even after accident condition tests. It is clear that the design concept and manufacturing procedure employed for this cask is adequate.