(GRS-805) Investigations into the release of radioactive substances from waste containers as a result of explosive impact

[This GRS report is available in German only.]

As part of the analysis of potential scenarios involving malicious acts against radioactive material or its containers, this research project investigates the release of airborne particles resulting from the detonation of explosives placed in direct contact with the material. To this end, in addition to various experimental test series, numerical investigations of the highly dynamic processes are being carried out, with a particular focus on validating the released masses and particle velocities.

In the previous research project ‘Experimental and numerical determination of the potential release resulting from an explosive impact during the transport of nuclear material’ /GRS 16b/, experimental data from blasting tests and numerical calculations had already been obtained. However, the discrepancies between the simulation and experimental results were sufficiently large that improving and further developing the model became a main focus of this research project. Building on the results of the previous research project, further test series were carried out using a modified experimental set-up. The resulting expansion of the experimental database enables, on the one hand, comparison with the results of the previous research project and, on the other hand, provides a sound basis for validating the simulation results. To this end, a wide range of parameters is varied in both the experimental test series and the numerical calculations.

Overall, this report shows that the simulations accurately reproduce the results of the experimental tests. Methods and models are presented that will enable questions concerning the release of airborne particles from waste containers as a result of explosive impact to be addressed more quickly and reliably in future.