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3D Printing Possibilities: Additive Manufacturing Impact Limiters for Transportation Casks
With the significant advances in additive manufacturing (AM), otherwise known as 3D printing, Orano Federal Services and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte recently re-examined the capabilities to print impact limiters for transportation casks used to ship spent nuclear fuel. Impact limiters protect transportation casks (sometimes also referred to as transportation overpacks) and their contents during an accident. Impact limiter designs must withstand testing based on a certain significance level of hypothetical accidents, including drops, crushing, fires, and immersion in water.
Brett J. Menaker, Russell E. Allen, Harry E. Painter
Nuclear Technology | Volume 91 | Number 1 | July 1990 | Pages 75-80
Technical Paper | Safety of Next Generation Power Reactor / Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34442
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Containment cooling using natural convection and radiation is a key passive safety feature studied for a 600-MW(electric) advanced small pressurized water reactor. A free-standing cylindrical steel containment vessel is surrounded by a reinforced concrete shield building configured as a chimney. Various methods to enhance natural-convection cooling were evaluated. The evaluation and selection process considered effectiveness, constructibility and effect on schedule, cost, degree of passivity, inspection and maintenance requirements, operational problems, and simplicity. As a result of these evaluations, a combination of fins and convection from the dome in addition to the cylinder is selected.