The work aims to design and manufacture a dedicated set of lifting yoke based on the operational characteristics of spent fuel storage and transportation casks to address challenges arising from the heavy cask weight, limited operating space, and environmental radiation, thereby ensuring safe handling during cask receipt, fuel loading/unloading, and pre-/post-transportation preparations and safeguarding the cask, spent fuel assemblies, and operating personnel. The "requirement analysis - structural design - calculation verification - experimental validation" methodology was adopted. Firstly, the design requirements of the vertical lifting yoke for the cask were analyzed, including functional requirements for cask handling operations, interface requirements, environmental requirements, and operational procedure requirements of the nuclear power plant. Next, based on the design requirements, the overall structure and pneumatic control system of the vertical lifting yoke were proposed. The design was then optimized by leveraging international experience in cask lifting yoke, with particular improvements made to the structural configuration of the lifting bushing. Key components were selected based on the load conditions and operational environment of the vertical lifting yoke. Subsequently, the calculation criteria for the vertical lifting yoke were established, and strength verification was conducted for critical load-bearing sections of high-risk components. Finally, a prototype of the vertical lifting yoke was manufactured and subjected to load testing and airtightness testing. Periodic maintenance requirements for the lifting yoke were also defined. Based on the strength verification results, the calculated stresses of all critical load-bearing sections in the designed vertical lifting yoke were below the allowable stress, with a safety margin greater than 1. The load testing and airtightness testing confirmed that the manufactured vertical lifting yoke met quality inspection standards after testing, with the pneumatic control system demonstrating excellent sealing performance. Field applications proved that the vertical lifting yoke fully complied with the operational requirements of cask handling. Both theoretical calculations and experimental results of the vertical lifting yoke meet the design requirements, demonstrating that its design fulfills the functional and safety requirements for spent fuel storage and transportation containers. This also provides a validated methodology for the design and development of other critical nuclear equipment.
Key words
storage and transportation cask /
vertical lifting yoke /
spent fuel /
safe
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