04/02/2016

Strict safety precautions are in place for the transport of highly radioactive waste. One component of this is the wooden shock absorbers that are placed at the ends of the containers. If an accident should happen, they would absorb the impact energy, deform and protect the CASTOR® container. BAM is researching the material properties of spruce wood for this.

740 wooden cubes were compressed for this purpose at BAM's Test Site for Technical Safety (TTS) in Horstwalde. Scientists from BAM's Safety of Transport Containers Division documented and assessed the results. Numerical stress analysis can be used to measure whether shock absorbers are working correctly and safely. BAM's evaluation feeds into the decision process for type testing, which is a prerequisite for the approval of any given container type.