Even prior to the beginning of the nuclear age in 1945 with the test detonation of the "Fat Man" atomic bomb at the Trinity site in southern New Mexico, the safe packaging and transportation of nuclear materials was already a prime national concern. Nuclear materials such as uranium and plutonium had to be transported secretly and safely to the super-secret laboratory of the Manhattan Engineering District at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Here, between 1943 and 1945, the most talented scientists and engineers in the world constructed the first atomic weapons.
The subsequent peacetime use of nuclear power for the generation of electricity resulted in radioactive waste byproducts such as plutonium that were stored on site at the nuclear power plants. While projected repositories for long-term storage of radioactive waste are being planned, both low- and high-level radioactive materials on occasion must be moved safely and economically. Movement to repository sites is accomplished by a combination of truck, rail, ship, and air. The Department of Energy (DOE) directs transportation activities including cask development technology for use in single or multi modal (a combination of land, water, and air) transport. In 1978, Sandia National Laboratories was selected as the lead contractor for basic transportation technology.
The U.S. Postal Service first established regulations governing shipment of radioactive materials when it was discovered that exposure of photographic film to ionizing radiation from materials being shipped through the U.S. mail was clouding the film. The basic regulation governing domestic shipment of radioactive substances was adopted on July 13, 1936. This was followed by Railway Express regulations requiring the "segregation" of radioactive parcels shipped by rail.
World War II and the development of nuclear weapons by 1945 resulted in greatly increased and varied shipments of radioactive materials relating to national defense. These shipments were under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army's Manhattan Engineer District, which developed the atomic bomb.
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 regulated the shipment of radioactive materials to protect the health and safety of the public. The Act placed responsibility for the enforcement of transportation regulations equally with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).
In the 1960s, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) sponsored theoretical and practical work on criticality, early "operations research" studies, and tests using scale models of heavy casks. Sandia Corporation, one of the facilities involved in these studies, conducted fire tests.
In 1963, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a United Nations agency, published its regulations governing transport for worldwide application. These were based, in part, on AEC/ICC orders and regulations. Later, both the AEC and ICC published revisions to the Radioactive Materials Regulations which made the U.S standards for transport consistent with those of the IAEA.
Sandia's Full-Scale Crash Tests, 1975-1977
In the early 1970s, the AEC wanted to validate the safety of existing package design regulations. To this end, Sandia conducted a series of full-scale tests on truck, rail, and air transportation packages to obtain accurate data on the packages' response to severe transportation accidents.
The Transportation Technology Center
In 1978, DOE officials surveyed the various DOE laboratories with the intent of selecting a lead laboratory for conducting basic transportation technology development. The Transportation Technology Center (TTC) was established that same year with Sandia as the lead contractor, largely as a result of the effectiveness of the full-scale crash tests and the design, analysis, and testing technology that supported the effort.
TRUPACT I
Studies on a transport system for defense transuranic (TRU) waste were initiated at Sandia in 1978. A cask was designed for the shipment of low-level radioactive materials from DOE sites to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The waste is in diverse forms such as rags, paper tools, large equipment, floor sweepings, and clothing. Preliminary design of a shipping container was completed in 1981 by General Atomic (now GA Technologies) under contract to Sandia. Six 1/4-scale models of the containers were built for testing, and full-scale tests were conducted on the panels of the containers and the transport drums.
TRUPACT II
(to be used for WIPP transport) was tested but not designed at Sandia. Shown here is a full-scale model just prior to a drop test.
NUPAC 125-B
This is a view of the one-quarter-scale NUPAC 125-B (TMI) cask rebounding during a drop test in 1985. It was designed to contain fuel debris that had been removed from the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident site.
BUSS Cask
Design of the Beneficial Uses Shipping System (BUSS) for the shipment of cesium chloride and strontium fluoride irradiation capsules began at Sandia in 1980. Prototype containers were tested under simulated severe accident conditions to ensure their integrity and to obtain DOE and NRC certification. The BUSS cask was put into service in 1993 at Hanford, Washington.
On-Site Container
Designed by Sandia for the U.S. Army, the On-Site Container (ONC) is used to transport obsolete chemical weapons from their storage sites to disposal sites for destruction. Gregory Enterprises of Carlsbad, New Mexico, fabricated the prototype test unit, which was certified for use by the Army. Early in 1993, the Army awarded a $40 million contract to Gregory Enterprises (a subsidiary of Scientific Ecology Group, Oak Ridge, Tennessee) for production of 165 ONC units.
On-Site Container
The ONC undergoing a drop test at Sandia's Coyote Canyon in 1992.
On-Site Container
The ONC being subjected to a fire test at Coyote Canyon in 1992.
C-141B
In 1994, the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) asked Sandia to carry out a safety evaluation on Minuteman III weapons when subjected to a transportation accident during transport on a C-141B aircraft. Two aircraft sections with mock weapons containers were subjected to drop tests at varying altitudes. The test results are being used by DNA to validate numerical predictions of aircraft response during postulated accident conditions.
C-141B
A C-141B fuselage section at the instant of hitting the concrete pad during a drop test at Sandia's Coyote Canyon.
MIDAS
MIDAS is the acronym for Mobile Instrumentation Data Acquisition System, a self-contained, fully automated data collection and processing facility housed in a 13.4-meter (44-foot) trailer with both structural and thermal data acquisition systems. MIDAS was designed and built between 1989 and 1993 by Sandia to provide on-site data acquisition and analysis capabilities for testing of radioactive materials packages. It has been used to collect data in Germany and at Lawrence Livermore Lab in addition to tests at Sandia.
MOSAIK
The MOSAIK program confirmed the suitability for using ductile iron in the construction of radioactive material casks. Ductile iron is widely used in Western Europe for this purpose. Sandia obtained the MOSAIK cask from its German manufacturer for a series of five drop tests conducted in 1994 which varied from a height of 30 feet to 60 feet. Technology based on MIDAS has been licensed for commercial use.
MOSAIK
The MOSAIK program confirmed the suitability for using ductile iron in the construction of radioactive material casks. Ductile iron is widely used in Western Europe for this purpose. Sandia obtained the MOSAIK cask from its German manufacturer for a series of five drop tests conducted in 1994 which varied from a height of 30 feet to 60 feet. Technology based on MIDAS has been licensed for commercial use.
Nuclear Material Container
Between 1986 and 1993, Sandia developed and patented a crash-resistant container capable of withstanding a "worst case" aircraft accident. The design has been evaluated for impacts as high as 630 mph onto various targets such as an unyielding surface and rock. To allow computer modeling for various configurations, structural and thermal models have been developed for the metal filaments, perforated sheet, and high-strength cloth materials used to protect the contents.
Nuclear Material Container
A one-quarter-scale model of a package to carry 8 kilograms of plutonium is shown here in preparation for a 288-mph side-on reverse ballistic test at the 10,000-foot rocket sled track at Sandia. The second photo shows the package after being cut apart for inspection. Note that the containment vessel which would contain the nuclear material is undamaged and still leak tight following the test. The artist's conception of the container shows the size of the protective package in relation to the stainless steel can which would hold the nuclear material contents.
Nuclear Material Container
A one-quarter-scale model of a package to carry 8 kilograms of plutonium is shown here in preparation for a 288-mph side-on reverse ballistic test at the 10,000-foot rocket sled track at Sandia. The second photo shows the package after being cut apart for inspection. Note that the containment vessel which would contain the nuclear material is undamaged and still leak tight following the test. The artist's conception of the container shows the size of the protective package in relation to the stainless steel can which would hold the nuclear material contents.
TRANSNET
TRANSNET is a system of data bases, analysis codes, routing algorithms, and information packages that are available to anyone interested in the transportation of radioactive materials. The system resides on a central computer that can be accessed by authorized users to either gain information or perform analyses of radioactive material transportation systems. An authorized user can access TRANSNET with a modem-equipped personal computer. The system first went on-line in 1987 from a dedicated minicomputer; it is now on a UNIX-based workstation.
SeaRAM
SeaRAM is a Department of Energy program to evaluate the severity of maritime accidents and the response of radioactive material shipping containers to such accidents. Significant quantities of nuclear spent fuel are scheduled to be shipped from Japan to France and the United Kingdom for reprocessing and returned to Japan. Also, nuclear fuel that was shipped to foreign countries for use in their experimental research reactors will be returned to the United States.
SeaRAM
View of Coast Guard Test Facility on Little Sand Island in Mobile Bay, Alabama. The test ship, Mayo Lykes, is in the middle.
SeaRAM
Wood crib fire test configuration with test package at right.
SeaRAM
Heptane spray fire test in progress. The simulated radioactive materials package, called a calorimeter, is the circular object at right.
SeaRAM
Wood crib fire test in progress.
PATRAM
An important outgrowth of transportation technology development activities at Sandia have been the international symposiums on Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials (PATRAM).