LAST-A-FOAM® 3700 Absorbs Energy of Impact in Coin Drop Test

Radioactive waste often must be transported thousands of miles from source to storage. About 3 million packages of radioactive materials are shipped each year in the United states, either by highway, rail, air or water. The containers used must withstand impact, fires, and submersion in water. When used as an impact- and fire- insulation liner in transport containers, LAST-A-FOAM^® FR-3700 can be engineered to provide the ultimate protection for hazardous cargo.

To demonstrate how our FR-3700 foam can absorb energy to protect the cargo at the container’s core, we have designed a test that we demonstrate at the Waste Management trade shows.

We drop 25 pounds of weight 2 feet above a 1 inch block of foam. A quarter is glued to the top surface of the foam to simulate the metal that is the outside casing of the container. When the weight impacts the quarter, it pushes the quarter through 50% of the foam.

A quarter is glued to the top surface of the foam to simulate the nuclear material being protected.  It is a Federal offense to deface USA currency, so our foam needs to protect the quarter from 50 foot lbs of energy, sufficient energy to damage the quarter.

If our foam faces unexpected high impact, say on the freeway on route to the storage destination, we want the foam to absorb all of the energy from the impact, leaving the waste cargo untouched.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has a zero tolerance policy for humans coming in contact with nuclear waste during transport, and our foam is an essential component in meeting this policy.