Shipping Container Response to Severe Highwayand Railway Accident Conditions: Main Report (NUREG/CR-4829, UCID-20733, Volume 1)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: April 1986
Date Published: February 1987
Reprinted: October 1988

Prepared by:
L.E. Fischer, C.K. Chou, M.A. Gerhard, C.Y. Kimura,
R.W. Martin, R.W. Mensing, M.E. Mount, M.C. Witte
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
7000 East Avenue
Livermore, California 94550

Prepared for:
Division of Reactor System Safety
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

NRC FIN A-0397

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Abstract

This report describes a study performed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to evaluate the level of safety provided under severe accident conditions during the shipment of spent fuel from nuclear power reactors. The evaluation is performed using data from real accident histories and using representative truck and rail cask models that likely meet 10 CFR 71 regulations. The responses of the representative casks are calculated for structural and thermal loads generated by severe highway and railway accident conditions. The cask responses are compared with those responses calculated for the 10 CFR 71 hypothetical accident conditions. By comparing the responses it is determined that most highway and railway accident conditions fall within the 10 CFR 71 hypothetical accident conditions. For those accidents that have higher responses, the probabilities and potential radiation exposures of the accidents are compared with those identified by the assessments made in the "Final Environmental Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes," NUREG-0170. Based on this comparison, it is concluded that the radiological risks from spent fuel under severe highway and railway accident conditions as derived in this study are less than risks previously estimated in the NUREG-0170 document.