Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Feasibility of UHPC shields in spent fuel vertical concrete cask to resist accidental drop impact

  • P.C. Jia (College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University) ;
  • H. Wu (College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University) ;
  • L.L. Ma (College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University) ;
  • Q. Peng (College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University)
  • Received : 2022.04.02
  • Accepted : 2022.07.17
  • Published : 2022.11.25
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has been widely utilized in military and civil protective structures to resist intensive loadings attributed to its excellent properties, e.g., high tensile/compressive strength, high dynamic toughness and impact resistance. At present, aiming to improve the defects of the traditional vertical concrete cask (VCC), i.e., the external storage facility of spent fuel, with normal strength concrete (NSC) shield, e.g., heavy weight and difficult to fabricate/transform, the feasibility of UHPC applied in the shield of VCC is numerically examined considering its high radiation and corrosion resistance. Firstly, the finite element (FE) analyses approach and material model parameters of NSC and UHPC are verified based on the 1/3 scaled VCC tip-over test and drop hammer test on UHPC members, respectively. Then, the refined FE model of prototypical VCC is established and utilized to examine its dynamic behaviors and damage distribution in accidental tip-over and end-drop events, in which the various influential factors, e.g., UHPC shield thickness, concrete ground thickness, and sealing methods of steel container are considered. In conclusion, by quantitatively evaluating the safety of VCC in terms of the shield damage and vibrations, it is found that adopting the 300 mm-thick UHPC shield instead of the conventional 650 mm-thick NSC shield can reduce about 1/3 of the total weight of VCC, i.e., about 50 t, and 37% floor space, as well as guarantee the structural integrity of VCC during the accidental drop simultaneously. Besides, based on the parametric analyses, the thickness of concrete ground in the VCC storage site is recommended as less than 500 mm, and the welded connection is recommended for the sealing method of steel containers.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51878507).

References

  1. R. Howard, B.V. Akker, Considerations for disposition of dry cask storage system materials at end of storage system life, in: Symposium on Recycling of Metals Arising from Operation and Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities, Studsvik, Sweden, Apr. 8-10, 2014. 
  2. U.S., Nuclear regulatory commission, office of nuclear material safety and safeguards. Standard review plan for dry cask storage systems, NUREG 1567 (2000). 
  3. J. Cao, Prospective risk analysis of the potential accidents in the dry storage of the spent nuclear fuel for PWR, J. Saf. Environ. 18 (3) (2018) 907-914 (in Chinese). 
  4. IAEA, Regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material, in: International Atomic Energy Agency-Report No. SSR-6, Vienna, Austria, 2012. 
  5. National Nuclear Safety Administration of China, Safety Regulations for Nuclear Power Plant Design, vols. 102-2016, HAF, 2016. 
  6. M. Ebad Sichani, M. Hanifehzadeh, J.E. Padgett, B. Gencturk, Probabilistic analysis of vertical concrete dry casks subjected to tip-over and aging effects, Nucl. Eng. Des. 343 (2019) 232-247.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2018.12.003
  7. Z.C. Li, Y.H. Yang, Z.F. Dong, T. Huang, H. Wu, Safety assessment of nuclear fuel reprocessing plant under the free drop impact of spent fuel cask and fuel assembly part I: large-scale model test and finite element model validation, Nucl. Eng. Technol. 53 (8) (2021) 2682-2695.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2021.02.004
  8. Y.H. Yang, W.Y. Dai, T. Huang, H. Wu, Numerical simulations of nuclear fuel reprocessing plant subjected to the free drop impact of spent fuel cask and fuel assembly, Nucl. Eng. Des. 385 (2021), 111524. 
  9. A. Musolff, T. Quercetti, K. Muller, B. Droste, S. Komann, Drop test program with half scale model CASTOR® HAW/TB2, Packaging, Transport, Storage & Security of Radioactive Material. 22 (3) (2013) 154-160. 
  10. N.A. Klymyshyn, H.E. Abramov, C.S. Bajwa, J.M. Piotter, Package impact models as a precursor to cladding analysis, J. Press. Vess.-T. ASME. 135 (1) (2012), 11601. 
  11. T. Wu, H. Lee, L. Kang, Dynamic response analysis of a spent-fuel dry storage cask under vertical drop accident, Ann. Nucl. Energy 42 (2012) 18-29.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2011.12.016
  12. M. Hanifehzadeh, B. Gencturk, A. Attar, K. Willam, Multi-hazard performance of reinforced concrete dry casks subjected to chloride attack and tip-over impact, Ann. Nucl. Energy 108 (2017) 10-23.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2017.04.032
  13. C. Huang, T. Wu, A study on dynamic impact of vertical concrete cask tip-over using explicit finite element analysis procedures, Ann. Nucl. Energy 36 (2) (2009) 213-221.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2008.11.014
  14. M. Kramar, F. Sinur, M. Gams, Drop test simulation and analysis of reinforced concrete disposal container, in: 25th International Conference Nuclear Energy for New Europe Portoroꠑz, Slovenia, Sep. 5-8, 2016. 
  15. M.D. Champiri, A. Mohammadipour, R. Mousavi, K.J. Willam, B. Gencturk, Added mass effect for tip-over analysis of dry cask composite structures at two different scales, Ann. Nucl. Energy 110 (2017) 126-139.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2017.06.028
  16. M. Ebad Sichani, J.E. Padgett, Surrogate modelling to enable structural assessment of collision between vertical concrete dry casks, Struct. Infrastruct. E. 15 (9) (2019) 1137-1150.  https://doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2019.1618878
  17. M. Hanifehzadeh, B. Gencturk, K. Willam, Dynamic structural response of reinforced concrete dry storage casks subjected to impact considering material degradation, Nucl. Eng. Des. 325 (C) (2017) 192-204.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.10.001
  18. M. Hanifehzadeh, B. Gencturk, R. Mousavi, A numerical study of spent nuclear fuel dry storage systems under extreme impact loading, Eng. Struct. 161 (2018) 68-81.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.01.068
  19. H. Othman, T. Sabrah, H. Marzouk, Feasibility of using ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete for radioactive waste containers: drop test simulation, Nucl. Eng. Des. 325 (2017) 113-123.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.09.019
  20. S. Hill, The Corrosion of Carbon Steel under Deep Geologic Nuclear Waste Disposal Conditions, Ph.D. thesis, The University of Western Ontario, Canada, 2016. 
  21. K. Seo, K. Bang, S. Yu, J. Lee, W. Choi, Experimental study on heat-removal performance in accordance with mesh size of screen installed at opening of inlets and outlets of concrete storage cask, Ann. Nucl. Energy 112 (2018) 322-327.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2017.10.005
  22. Q. Su, H. Wu, H.S. Sun, Q. Fang, Experimental and numerical studies on dynamic behavior of reinforced UHPC panel under medium-range explosions, Int. J. Impact Eng. 148 (2021), 103761. 
  23. H. Othman, H. Marzouk, Impact Response of ultra-high-performance reinforced concrete plates, ACI Struct. J. 113 (6) (2016) 1325-1334. 
  24. P.C. Jia, H. Wu, R. Wang, Q. Fang, Dynamic responses of reinforced ultra-high performance concrete members under low-velocity lateral impact, Int. J. Impact Eng. 150 (2021), 103818. 
  25. Y.X. Zhai, H. Wu, Q. Fang, Impact resistance of armor steel/ceramic/UHPC layered composite targets against 30CrMnSiNi2A steel projectiles, Int. J. Impact Eng. 154 (2021), 103888. 
  26. I. Hudoba, Utilization of concrete as a construction material in the concept of radioactive waste storage in Slovak Republic, Acta Montanistica Slovaca 12 (2007) 157-161. 
  27. IAEA, Containers for packaging of solid and intermediate level radioactive wastes, in: International Atomic Energy Agency-Report No. 355. Vienna, Austria, 1993. 
  28. H. Othman, T. Sabrah, H. Marzouk, Conceptual design of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete nuclear waste container, Nucl. Eng. Technol. 51 (2) (2019) 588-599.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2018.10.014
  29. LSTC, LS-DYNA Keyword User's Manual Version 971, 2007. 
  30. Q. Peng, H. Wu, R.F. Zhang, Q. Fang, Numerical simulations of base-isolated LNG storage tanks subjected to large commercial aircraft crash, Thin Wall, Struct 163 (2021), 107660. 
  31. Y.D. Murray, Users Manual for Ls-Dyna Concrete Material Model 159: No. FHWAHRT-05-062, Colorado Springs, Federal Highway Administration, 2007. 
  32. D.C. Stouffer, L.T. Dame, Inelastic Deformation of Metals: Models, Mechanical Properties, and Metallurgy, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1996. 
  33. C. Bojanowski, R.F. Kulak, Comparison of Lagrangian, SPH and MM-ALE approaches for modeling large deformations in soil, in: 11th International LS-DYNA Users Conference, LSTC, Detroit, 2010. 
  34. D.M. Cotsovos, A simplified approach for assessing the load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete beams under concentrated load applied at high rates, Int. J. Impact Eng. 37 (8) (2010) 907-917.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2010.01.005
  35. M. Gu, L. Kong, R. Chen, Y. Chen, X. Bian, Response of 1×2 pile group under eccentric lateral loading, Comput. Geotech. 57 (2014) 114-121.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2014.01.007
  36. JGJ 82-2011, Technical Specification for High Strength Bolt Connections of Steel Structures, China Architecture & Building Press, Beijing, 2011.