Background

A cask for transportation of spent fuel (also called TK-6 spent fuel flask) from VVER 440 reactors was developed in the Russian Federation. The flask was also used for transportation of VVER 440 spent fuel in Russian Federation and Central and Eastern Europe.
Objective

In 1995 the European Commission launched a project (through the TACIS 1993 programme). The overall objective was to perform safety assessment of the cask in accordance with the Type B requirements of the IAEA Transport Regulations of 1985. More specifically it aimed at the engineering assessment of the safety aspects of cask design, manufacturing, and testing. It also addressed quality assurance requirements at all stages of the process of developing and procuring the cask.
The two year project commence in 1996 and was implemented by Ove Arup & Partners International, Consulting Engineers, with the subcontractors All-Russian Design and Scientific Research Institute of Complex Power Technology (VNIPIET, Russian Fed.) of St. Petersburg, and AEA Technology (United Kingdom).
Results

The project was implemented in three phases:

• Phase 1: Review of existing cask design
  An assessment of the performance of the flask against the IAEA transport regulations was performed.
• Phase 2: Proposal of design improvements of existing cask design
  Recommendations for improvements in areas that the flask did not meet the regulations were made.
• Phase 3: Proposal of functional specification for new cask design
  A survey of existing flasks which could potentially replace the cask was carried out and a functional specification for a new flask was proposed.

The project identified areas of compliance of the design with the IAEA regulations of 1985, and also areas where further improvement was required.