Radioactive Storage Package With Removable Base Cover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing long-term storage systems for radioactive materials face challenges in accessing the head of the case during storage due to its orientation, making handling and intervention difficult, especially in vertically stored packages with limited height constraints.
Innovation Solution
A long-term storage package design featuring a removable base cover allows horizontal insertion of the case with the head oriented to the front, enabling easier access and vertical storage with a pivoting mechanism, along with ventilation for heat management and enhanced physical protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the case is transferred horizontally with the head oriented to the front, then the head becomes accessible for intervention during storage, but the package height increases requiring more storage space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by making the base cover removable instead of the head cover. This allows the case to be inserted horizontally with the head oriented to the front, making the head accessible for intervention during storage while maintaining a compact vertical storage profile. The removable base cover enables this reversed orientation strategy.
Solution Approach 2:
The package is segmented into removable base cover and head cover portions, allowing independent access to the case from the base side during storage. This segmentation enables the case head to remain accessible without requiring the entire package to be opened or reoriented, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and compact storage.
2Length of stationary object
If the case is inserted vertically with the head at the bottom, then the package height is minimized for compact storage, but the head becomes difficult to access for intervention
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the head cover removable (conventional approach), the patent makes the base cover removable. This inversion allows the case to be inserted with the head oriented to the front, making it accessible for intervention while maintaining compact vertical storage dimensions. The removable base enables access to the case head without increasing package height.
3Device complexity
If a fixed base is used in the package, then the package structure is simpler and more robust, but the case cannot be inserted horizontally with the head to the front
Solution Approach 1:
The base is segmented into a removable base cover portion, allowing the case to be inserted horizontally with the head to the front. This segmentation provides the necessary flexibility for proper case orientation while maintaining overall structural robustness. The removable base cover can be easily replaced to restore package integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
A long-term storage facility has an array of storage packages receiving respective cases containing radioactive materials. Each storage package has a lateral body delimiting a housing for receiving a case, the package body being closed at its top end and at its low end respectively by a removable head cover, and by a package base. The package base has a removable base cover, allowing insertion of the case via the low end of the body. The packages can be moved inside the facility by a mechanical lift. The facility includes a pivoting frame for swinging a storage package from a horizontal orientation in which the storage package is loaded to a vertical position in which the storage package is stored.