Year
2011
Abstract
The U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Specification 6M 110 gallon container had been the workhorse for the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) and many other shippers for research reactor fuel. This DOT specification was eliminated from the regulations on September 30, 2008. The anticipation of this action prompted DOE to begin development of the ES-4100 Shipping Container as its replacement. The ES-4100 project began in 2007. As part of the licensing activities, the project conducted regulatory tests on full-size prototypes, in compliance with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements in 10 CFR 71.71 and 10 CFR 71.73. Prototype fabrication was started in January 2009 by Major Tool and Machine, Inc. of Indianapolis, IN, and complete prototypes were delivered in January 2010. Most of the testing was conducted at the National Transportation Research Center (NTRC) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The regulatory thermal testing was conducted in a large gas-fired furnace at a steel mill in Latrobe PA. The large size of the container (2000 lb gross weight) gave rise to several unique challenges during the preparation for testing and during the tests themselves. This paper will describe the testing preparation, performance, and results. Photographs of key tests will be included. The paper will also cover design features of this shipping container.