Brittle Fracture Tests of Cask Materials for Transporting Radioactive Materials

AbstractThe IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material stipulates that Type B(U) packages shall be designed for an ambient temperature range from −40°C to +38°C. Guidelines for the safe design of shipping packages against brittle fracture were provided by the IAEA TECDOC-717 in 1993. This report discusses the applicability of the actual method for brittle fracture assessment to Type B transport cask materials used in Japan. The necessity of brittle fracture assessment at low temperature was estimated for each material of Type B transport casks used in Japan and the applicability was investigated. Dynamic fracture toughness tests were conducted and KId (JId), and RTNDT values of low Mn carbon steels (SA350 Gr. LFI Modify and SA516 Gr. 70 material used in Type B transport cask body) were obtained. All the obtained KId (JId) values were over the ASME KIR curve. It was then confirmed that an easier and conventional RTNDT-KIR curve method prescribed in ASME Code Section III can be substitu...