Structural challenges in the development of a truck shipping cask for the OCRWM Cask Systems Development Program

The development of a spent fuel transportation cask design based on a structural material without licensing precedent presents many challenges. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requires that any new material be qualified to meet the design and fabrication requirements of the ASME Boiler Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Class 1. This paper discusses the strategy that is being implemented towards obtaining Code acceptance of a titanium alloy (3A1-2.5V). This alloy has been chosen as the principal structural material for a Legal Weight Truck cask being developed by Westinghouse for the US Department of Energy. The analysis approach used on some of the principal cask components is also presented. 5 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs.