DRS low level waste (LLW) ISO containers

[Revolution Mike]

Some of the ex-Cawoods PFAs are now used by DRS to transport low level nuclear waste (LLW) from the various nuclear sites to Sellafield, Drigg (the LLW repository) and Workington (for metal recycling). A post on the DEMU forum by Mick (newbryford) got me interested in them so I started drawing some of the contianers up in Blender.

I finally found some decent drawings for the most common type of container (there are about 5-6 slight variants, but I've gone for the current one as that is the version on virtually all photos) and corrected my drawings which gave this:


2947B by ukrail

Then shortly before Christmas, a box arrived from Shapeways with the first (2mm) test print - now painted in red oxide primer (which is a pretty good match for the real thing).  All the detail except the rivet heads came out:


IMG_0434[1] by ukrail


IMG_0436[1] by ukrail


IMG_0438[1] by ukrail

Apologies for the image quality - taken with my phone. Next thing is to try and cast them. Then to adapt them for 4mm.

Cheers, Mike

[Rods_of_Revolution]

Looks good Mike!

 

Is that in FD or FUD?

 

Cheers,

 

Jack

[Revolution Mike]

Thanks Jack - it is FUD, not sure it would print in FD.  Some of the parts are pushing the boundaries of FUD!

 

First attempt at casting it gone into a rubber mould tonight.

 

Cheers, Mike

[Ian_B]

Mike,

are you making these available at Shapeways?

Regards

Ian_B

[Revolution Mike]

Ian

 

The short answer is I'm not sure yet!  A friend has just created a mould for a pair of them to see how well they cast in resin.

 

If they cast as well as the 3D print then I think I will sell them in resin as it will make them significantly cheaper than printing them. If the casts don't work out so well then I'll thin the walls a bit and make them available for sale directly through Shapeways.

 

For 4mm, my gut instinct is that they will probably have to be cast as I suspect they would be too expensive to print.

 

Cheers, Mike

[Ian_B]

Ian

 

The short answer is I'm not sure yet!  A friend has just created a mould for a pair of them to see how well they cast in resin.

 

If they cast as well as the 3D print then I think I will sell them in resin as it will make them significantly cheaper than printing them. If the casts don't work out so well then I'll thin the walls a bit and make them available for sale directly through Shapeways.

 

For 4mm, my gut instinct is that they will probably have to be cast as I suspect they would be too expensive to print.

 

Cheers, Mike

Mike,

Have a look at WildBoarFells MOD Side door 20' Containers.

Regards

Ian_B

[Revolution Mike]

Hi Ian

 

I've seen WBF's containers, but I'm not a big fan of the White, Strong & Flexible material which is used.  For me, the surface is too rough (and the detail can be compromised).

 

I cast some resin copies at the weekend with mixed success - the casts were a bit mixed in quality.  The real difficulty was casting the very thin lips at the bottom of the container, but I  might be able to solve that with a different mould design.

 

I've slightly revised the CAD to make them a bit cheaper to print and made them available for sale at Shapeways: http://shpws.me/quto - two caveats: I haven't had time to order a test print of this version yet and I can only say it will print in FUD (though I've allowed the option of FD if people want to risk it).

 

Cheers, Mike

[Rods_of_Revolution]

Hi Mike,

 

As a rough guess the walls look to be about 3mm thick, I'm sure you could get away with making them 1.5mm, even just 1mm if you put an internal round or chamfer in to increase the strength at the corners. It may make them more viable to sell at Shapeways if casting proves tricky.

 

Cheers,

 

Jack

[Revolution Mike]

Hi Jack

 

On the version for sale I've reduced the walls to 1.5-1.7mm.  The version above had deliberately thicker walls for casting.

 

The issue with casting is that on some of the really small channels the rubber rips off the mould as you remove the master.  I've got a better idea for how to make the mould now to hopefully reduce this.

 

Cheers, Mike

[Ian_B]

Looks Good Mike,

Was about to buy a set to try out when I realised I'd misread the scale as 4mm (wishful thinking I guess!).

Any chance you'll be upscaling these?

Ian_B

[HSTFAN13]

Looks Good Mike,

Was about to buy a set to try out when I realised I'd misread the scale as 4mm (wishful thinking I guess!).

Any chance you'll be upscaling these?

Ian_B

It says on posts #1 and #5 about 4mm

HSTFAN13

[Ian_B]

It says on posts #1 and #5 about 4mm

HSTFAN13

Unfortunately Shapeways ony have 2mm listed for production :-(

Ian_B

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hi Mike,

 

Great job. Could the casting work if they were done as a kit, making it easier to remove from the mould?

 

These look excellent!

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[HSTFAN13]

Unfortunately Shapeways ony have 2mm listed for production :-(

Ian_B

 

That's because mike hasn't finished the 4mm container

I'm waiting too because I've always wanted these containers

HSTFAN13

[HSTFAN13]

Hi Mike,

Do you have any plans for full high LLW ISO Containers and 3/4 high LLW ISO Containers.

Lee

HSTFAN13

[Revolution Mike]

Hi folks

 

I'd not thought of doing the full height ISO containers mainly because they get used so much less (at one stage there was only one train per year of them - IIRC Sellafield to Hull for onward movement to Russia!), but not beyond the realms of possibility.  I'd have to look to see what differences there are in their design. I don't know much about the 3/4 height ones - do you mean the very small boxes which sit on a pale blue frame - ie these ones:
7C21 1142 Drigg - Sellafield 14-07-11 by phantomfgr2, on Flickr

 

One I would definitely like to do is the LLW with the sloping roof (actually a rainwater cover) see: http://flic.kr/p/c4RyhJ

 

In terms of order of work, I'll look at scaling up the containers I've already done in 2mm to 4mm first, then probably look at the sloped roof variant and possibly the full height.

 

Ben - thanks.  I don't really want to get to the point of needing to cast multiple pieces for a kit - if I'm honest, I don't have the time! I'm not sure breaking the containers down would help as the issue is that the part of the mould is so small and fragile that it may just be pushing mould design too far.

 

Cheers, Mike

[newbryford]

Hi folks

 

I'd not thought of doing the full height ISO containers mainly because they get used so much less (at one stage there was only one train per year of them - IIRC Sellafield to Hull for onward movement to Russia!), but not beyond the realms of possibility.  I'd have to look to see what differences there are in their design. I don't know much about the 3/4 height ones - do you mean the very small boxes which sit on a pale blue frame - ie these ones:

7C21 1142 Drigg - Sellafield 14-07-11 by phantomfgr2, on Flickr

 

 

B*gger - do I hold off making the small boxes?

And to make it more complicated, there's at least two sizes of small box.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16469970@N03/9029579736/in/photolist-eKUXtf-eFAJZB-eDTzfN-c4zZyN-crFhnL-eJfTsj-cs8wAY-eijAyg-eH77dR-eHbyHR-fkEtuE-eHkzjy-eHpJgj-eS9MxT-ejMqmm-e7eZiF-eYE6ea-cs8wTL-cPQRdE-9PLmXL-ebRpS4-eETKXU-e6xiAc-eSu1fY-99wWG1-ejGkwx-9PHZ6k-ek1GNB-eRQoQw-boMHW9-cPSzcq-99wwzG-aud7BF-auevi2-aui36A-c4gP97-c4gP29-c4gNF3-c4gLX3-btQbQf-bGHWAX-c4RyhQ-c4RyhJ-apd7DS-cQgoQ7-fc1m3s-eGnqJ6-dpKEg9-bX6hzn-btQbpQ-bGJYX2

 

Cheers,

Mick

[HSTFAN13]

Hi folks I'd not thought of doing the full height ISO containers mainly because they get used so much less (at one stage there was only one train per year of them - IIRC Sellafield to Hull for onward movement to Russia!), but not beyond the realms of possibility. I'd have to look to see what differences there are in their design. I don't know much about the 3/4 height ones - do you mean the very small boxes which sit on a pale blue frame - ie these ones: 7C21 1142 Drigg - Sellafield 14-07-11 by phantomfgr2, on Flickr One I would definitely like to do is the LLW with the sloping roof (actually a rainwater cover) see: http://flic.kr/p/c4RyhJ In terms of order of work, I'll look at scaling up the containers I've already done in 2mm to 4mm first, then probably look at the sloped roof variant and possibly the full height. Ben - thanks. I don't really want to get to the point of needing to cast multiple pieces for a kit - if I'm honest, I don't have the time! I'm not sure breaking the containers down would help as the issue is that the part of the mould is so small and fragile that it may just be pushing mould design too far. Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike,

Sorry I meant 1/3 high containers as there's 3 types of ISO LLW Containers ... 1/2 high,1/3high and full high+ the small box ones

Here's some links to info that may help:http://llwrsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/WasteAcceptanceCriteriaVLLWDisposalWSC-WAC-VER-Version3.pdf

http://www.bootlecontainers.co.uk/service-view/nuclear-systems/

http://www.neimagazine.com/features/featurea-history-of-the-uk-s-ip-2-iso-freight-containers/

http://www.croftltd.com

http://www.croftltd.com/pdf/PATRAM-2010-Oral-Paper-415-v13-low-res.pdf

Also yes I would be interested if you make the small boxes, full high and 1/3 high LLW ISO Containers

Hope this helps and sorry for the mix up

Lee,HSTFAN13

 

Edit:I'm sure I've seen in a document/website 3/4 ISO Containers, if I find it I will put it here.

[Revolution Mike]

Mick - I would make those out of plasticard personally as they are simple shapes.

 

Lee - I've seen all that, and there are more variants of container, but very few of the variants have ever been carried by rail.  As far as I can tell the only ISO containers carried by rail have been the full height, the 2947 (1.2m high) and the ones with rain covers, but I'm willing to be proved wrong!

 

Cheers, Mike

[HSTFAN13]

Mick - I would make those out of plasticard personally as they are simple shapes.

 

Lee - I've seen all that, and there are more variants of container, but very few of the variants have ever been carried by rail.  As far as I can tell the only ISO containers carried by rail have been the full height, the 2947 (1.2m high) and the ones with rain covers, but I'm willing to be proved wrong!

 

Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike

There's is 3/4 high LLW Containers here's a link:http://llwrsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Transport-Feasibility-Study.pdf(it's a bit down the document)but as you say there's loads of types but not many have moved via rail.

Here's some more links:(which you've properly seen)

http://llwrsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/TC03OM_0102940_MECH_00001_F.pdf

http://llwrsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Waste-Characterisation-Framework-Successes-–-Jaime-Fenton-Babcock.pdf

http://www.inutec.co.uk/uploads/file/025_26nei1010_Rise%20of%20the%20Radwaste%20Depot.pdf

Lee,HSTFAN13

[newbryford]

Mick - I would make those out of plasticard personally as they are simple shapes.

 

Lee - I've seen all that, and there are more variants of container, but very few of the variants have ever been carried by rail.  As far as I can tell the only ISO containers carried by rail have been the full height, the 2947 (1.2m high) and the ones with rain covers, but I'm willing to be proved wrong!

 

Cheers, Mike

 

Going for the plastic boxes - I'm already on with the mounting frame.

 

Not the world's best pic, but there's two heights of smaller boxes on this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35892650@N08/8511586300/in/photolist-dY974W

 

Cheers,

Mick