Radiant energy – Radiation controlling means – Shielded receptacles for radioactive sources
Patent
1981-04-20
1984-05-08
Anderson, Bruce C.
Radiant energy
Radiation controlling means
Shielded receptacles for radioactive sources
2505071, G21F 500
Patent
active
044477295
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention involves a cylindrical container for the transportation of irradiated reactor elements.
Transport containers for radioactive materials must be designed so that the leakage of radioactive substances is safely avoided even in an extremely serious accident. Among such accidents in this sense are:
The free fall of the container (e.g., from a transporting vehicle) and the shock against a hard, unyielding surface
Cases capable of withstanding such accidents, consisting of massive, forged steel cylinders, tightly sealed top and bottom, are known. The heavy steel body stops gamma radiation. As a shield against neutron radiation, the container is provided with an outer water jacket.
Lateral cooling ribs serve both as heat radiators and as energy absorbers in the event of a lateral impact against the container. Shock absorbers may be mounted on the ends of the container to act as neutron shields as well as energy abosrbers.
In the known containers, a particular defect is the energy absorption against shock. Depending on the angle of the fall and the type of shock, there may be unequal inertial values with local points of very high inertia that may lead to damage to the container.
The purpose of the invention is to eliminate these defects and to furnish a transport container whose energy absorption characteristics will be essentially uniform in all directions when the shock occurs.
This problem is solved in such fashion that the removable shock absorbers mounted on top and on bottom of the container are in the form of a double shell. In an effective variation of the invention, the shock absorbers are torus-shaped and filled with balso wood in which the fibers of the wood are parallel to the direction of the container's axis.
With the aid of the drawings, examples of the forms the invention may take are explained in greater detail in what follows. Shown are:
FIG. 1, a cross section through an empty transport container for seven irradiated reactor elements,
FIG. 2, a cross section through another transport container for seventeen irradiated reactor elements,
FIG. 3, a longitudinal section along the line III--III through the empty transport container of FIG. 1,
FIG. 4, a view from below of the floor of the container and the screw-mounted shock absorbers of FIG. 3,
FIG. 5, a plan view of the container cover with a mounted shock absorber of FIG. 3,
FIG. 6, a section along the line VI--VI of FIG. 5,
FIG. 7, a section along the line VII--VII of FIG. 3,
FIG. 8, a section along the line VIII--VIII of FIG. 4,
FIG. 9, a section along the line IX--IX of FIG. 3, and
FIG. 10, various reactor elements to be transported in the container.
The transport container shown in the figures consists essentially of the cylindrical container body 1, the removable holder 2 for the reactor element, the inner cover plate 3, the outer container cover 4, and the two shock absorbers 5, 6 mounted on the ends of the container.
The inner space of the container is designed so that different holders 2, 21 with different capacities, for example, seven reactor rods (FIG. 1) or seventeen reactor rods (FIG. 2) can be stored in it. Six carrier pegs 7, four of them mounted on top and two on bottom, are provided for lifting the container.
The transport container has a massive steel cylinder 1 with a cylinder floor 8 welded to it. The inner cover plate 3 is fixed to the steel cylinder 1 by means of the bolts 16. The cylinder 1, the floor 8, and the inner cover plate 3 are forged from carbon steel, and provide good shielding against gamma radiation. The inner space of the container as well as the outer parts, which may become radioactively contaminated, are encased in sheet stainless steel.
The cylindrical part of the container is surrounded by a water jacket 9. The water jacket extends axially from the lower to the upper carrier pegs 7 for the purpose of isolating the active reactor element zone of all reactor element types involved. The water serves as a neutron shield to stop fast neutrons. The outer casing 10 of the water jacket is surrounded by
REFERENCES:
patent: 3619616 (1971-11-01), Smith
patent: 3886368 (1975-05-01), Rollins et al.
patent: 3962587 (1976-06-01), Dufrane et al.
patent: 4268755 (1981-05-01), Weber et al.
patent: 4336460 (1982-06-01), Best et al.
Cohen, Al, "Equipment News", Power, vol. 114, No. 2, Feb. 1970, p. 90.
Doroszlai Pal
Ferroni Ferruccio
Anderson Bruce C.
Elektrowatt Ingenieurunternehmung AG.
Eslinger Lewis H.
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