Package testing has been
performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) since the 1950's. ORNL has been a
pioneer in performance testing of radioactive material packages and has the capability to
perform regulatory tests on all types of hazardous and radioactive material packages. ORNL
has conducted performance tests for commercial customers such as Nuclear Assurance Corp,
Westinghouse, Frematone-Cogema, ABB/Combustion Engineering, and Holtec Corp., as well as
for DOE customers, such as Sandia National Laboratories. The Transportation Technologies
Group, having relocated to the National Transportation Research Center in October of 2000,
has new facilities and equipment which enhance its capabilities in package testing.
Drop Testing Capabilities
ORNL has the capability to
perform the hypothetical accident condition (HAC) performance tests required by the
regulations for fissile and Type B radioactive material packages. The Laboratory has
conducted drop tests on packages whose weight varies from below 100 lb. (45 kg) up to
50,000 lb. (22,700 kg). If the tests do not produce the results expected, capabilities
exist to dismantle test pieces quickly (e.g., impact limiters overnight to determine how
the internal crushable structure behaved, which can lead designers to modify planned tests
if necessary).
The drop testing facility is comprised of a 60-ton
concrete and steel pad with a surface area of 3.4 by 3 meters. An impact pad with a steel
impact surface of 20 ft long, 8 ft wide and capable of testing packages weighing up to 25
tons is being built as a part of the new National Transportation Research Center.
Puncture testing can be done
using steel punches designed to regulatory specifications.
Support Capabilities
- High-speed filming of the test
with overnight developing services available
- Sound and vibration recordings
- Spectrum and signal analyzers
- Post-analysis capabilities using the latest
software
- X-ray analysis
- Liquid penetration analysis
- Leak test equipment
- Internal and external measurements of
packaging size
|
Staff
Qualified staff supports each type of testing,
depending on the customer's needs. An experienced testing supervisor at ORNL supervises
each test.Quality
Assurance
All diagnostic measuring devices that fall under the ORNL
Quality Assurance program are traceable to national performance and quality standards set
by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). |
|
Equipment
Available at ORNL
 Outdoor drop test pad (30-foot drop height,
10,000 lb. capacity)
Puncture tests of packages weighing up to 10,000 lb.)
Crush tests of packages (dropping a 500 kg weight from
30 ft onto the package)
Penetration tests and compression/stacking tests
|
|
|
