Performance of BLC-200 Cask under 9m Drop Test

BLC-200 cask is designed to carry 200 kCi Co60 sealed sources. The cask is made of stainless steel, lead and tungsten. Lead is used as primary shielding material, whereas tungsten is used in the inner periphery to make the cask compact and light. One of the main design features of BLC-200 is its inclined fins which not only act as a shock absorber during impact but also helps in dissipating heat during normal conditions of transport. The cask is designed as a Type B (U) package as per International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) & Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) regulations, according to which the cask should maintain its structural integrity when dropped onto an unyielding target from a height of 9 m. Numerical simulation with Explicit Finite Element Technique is used to study the performance of the cask under 9 m drop test. The paper brings out the methodology of analysis and performance of cask under 9 m drop test. Numerical simulations of the cask under various drop orientations are presented. Results such as deformation, g-loading, lead slump and bolt stresses induced are discussed.