Radioactive Waste Shielding Module With Impact Damping and Heat Venting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current nuclear waste storage containers face challenges in effectively shielding against radiation and managing heat dissipation while withstanding impacts and earthquakes, leading to increased storage facility demands.
Innovation Solution
A shielding module with a perimeter wall and metal elements that absorb impacts, features heat evacuation windows, and a layered construction for radiation protection, including a concrete and steel structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the container walls are made thicker with multiple layers to withstand impacts and earthquakes, then the strength and reliability are improved, but the weight and volume increase
Solution Approach 1:
The container walls are constructed using composite materials consisting of multiple layers with different properties: an inner corrosion-resistant layer, an intermediate structural layer, and an outer impact-resistant layer. This composite structure provides enhanced strength and durability while optimizing weight compared to using a single thick material layer.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If additional shielding layers are added to increase radiation protection capacity, then the radiation shielding is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The container walls are designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: the composite structure provides radiation shielding, mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, and thermal insulation all in one integrated system. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized layers for each protective function.
Solution Approach 2:
Different layers in the composite wall structure are selected to provide specific properties: certain layers offer radiation attenuation while others provide structural integrity or corrosion protection. This allows optimization of radiation shielding without requiring a single overly complex multi-layer system.
3Temperature
If the container design is modified to improve heat dissipation, then the temperature control is improved, but the structural integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The container incorporates porous or perforated sections in the wall structure that serve as thermal pathways for heat dissipation. These porous elements are strategically designed to provide adequate cooling channels while maintaining sufficient structural strength through the overall composite wall configuration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances radiation shielding and heat dissipation, protecting the container from external forces and optimizing storage facility capacity.
Implementation Method 1
The metal elements have a certain elasticity that makes it possible to absorb the impacts received in the wall of the shielding module, minimising the transmission of these forces to the container through the structural deformation of these metal elements
Implementation Method 2
The shielding module laterally comprises upper and lower windows for the evacuation of the heat released by the container and generated by the stored waste by natural convection, between the inside and outside of the module. The lower windows are defined in the perimeter wall and form inlets for air at room temperature, and the upper windows are defined in the perimeter wall, or between the upper end of said perimeter wall and the lid of the shielding module, and form outlets for the air that enters through the lower windows and is heated as it rises through the space between the container and the perimeter wall of the shielding module
Data Source
AI summary
A shielding module for a radioactive waste container (C) comprising a perimeter wall (1) and a closing lid (2), which define a cavity (3) suitable for housing the container (C), and a number of metal elements (4) attached along the perimeter wall (1) and protruding into said cavity (3), said metal elements (4) forming means for limiting lateral movement, for centring and for dampening impacts against the side wall of the container (C) with respect to the shielding module (10), in the event of potential external impacts or the sideways fall of the assembly formed by the container (C) and the shielding module (10).