Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) has designed a crash-resistant container, the Perforated Metal Air Transportable Package (PMATP), capable of surviving a worst-case plane crash, including both impact and subsequent fire, for the air transport of plutonium. This report presents thermal analyses of the full-scale PMATP in its undamaged (pre-test) condition and in bounding post-accident states. The goal of these thermal simulations was to evaluate the performance of the package in a worst-case post-crash fire. The full-scale package is approximately 1.6 m long by 0.8 m diameter. The thermal analyses were performed with the FLEX finite element code. This analysis clearly predicts that the PMATP provides acceptable thermal response characteristics, both for the post-accident fire of a one-hour duration and the after-fire heat-soak condition. All predicted temperatures for the primary containment vessel are well within design limits for safety.
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Published on 01/01/2003
Volume 2003, 2003
DOI: 10.2172/918243
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA license
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