Russia’s Institute of Materials Science of JSC NPO TsNIITMASH – part of Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division Atomenergomash – has completed throw tests of a transport packaging kit (TUK) model for handling irradiated fuel assemblies from the Brest-OD-300 reactor.
To implement the test the institute staff created a stand which consisted of a lifting device, guides, a digital registration system for dynamic accelerations, as well as a monolithic metal base weighing more than 1.5 tons, installed on the foundation. The work was carried out under an agreement with Energospetsmontazh JSC. The condition of the mock-up (scale 1:10) was studied after it was dropped from a height of nine metres onto the lower transport damper.
“The use of this stand and testing of reduced-size mock-ups, combined with numerical simulation of the impact loads on products of various sizes, makes it possible to choose the most effective design and technological solutions when developing the TUK design. In the damper device, instead of the traditionally used wood filler, a new material was tested – lightweight concrete with aluminosilicate microspheres, which is technologically advanced and, as shown by throw tests, has higher energy-absorbing properties. The results of this study make it possible to recommend this material for the manufacture of dampers for full-scale products,” said Alexander Kazantsev, head of the strength department of JSC NPO TsNIITMASH.
JSC Energospetsmontazh is an enterprise whose main activity is the installation of reactor plants, process equipment, pipelines and metal structures of nuclear power plants, general construction works for the construction of nuclear power facilities. A damper is a device for reducing dynamic loads and preventing oscillations that occur in machines, devices, systems during their operation.
Image: The new transport casks from JSC NPO TsNIITMASH (courtesy of Atomenergomash)
