SHIPPING CONTAINER RESPONSE TO SEVERE HIGHWAY AND RAILWAY ACCIDENT CONDITIONS. MAIN REPORT

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.

• Record URL:
  http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML0708/ML070810403.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  7000 East Avenue
  Livermore, CA  United States  94550

  Nuclear Regulatory Commission

  1717 H Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20555
• Authors:
  • Fischer, L E
  • Chou, C K
  • Gerhard, M A
  • Kimura, C Y
  • Martin, R W
  • Mensing, R W
  • Mount, M E
  • Witte, M C
• Publication Date: 1988-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 246 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Casks; Containers; Crash data; Highway safety; Nuclear radiation; Nuclear reactors; Radioactive materials; Railroad crashes; Railroad safety; Risk assessment; Spent reactor fuels; Traffic crashes; Traffic safety; Truck crashes; Trucking safety
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00961909
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NUREG/CR-4829, UCID-20733, Volume 1
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 11 2003 12:00AM