Activities Aimed at Qualification of a HLW Disposal Container

A container is being developed for the permanent disposal of used fuel from CANDU nuclear reactors in a deep underground disposal vault. The container is required to isolate the fuel from the surrounding environment for at least 500 years. Environmental and mechanical loads on the containers are defined. Several test programs have been carried out to show that the container is suitable for use in the disposal program. The test programs include: testing of granular materials, hydrostatic pressure and accidental impact tests using a full scale prototype, creep in titanium and steel at vault temperatures. Several finite element models were verified using results from test programs. Finite element analysis were used to obtain information not available from tests. All activities conducted to date show that the container is suitable for disposal. The program is continuing.