[en] An investigation is reported of several damaged 17H 55-gal drums, from which natural uranium concentrate was spilled as a result of a truck accident. Spillage occurred when the drums were deformed such that the lids separated from the drums. It was concluded that this deformation was produced by quasi-static crush loading when the truck rolled over and the side of the truck impacted the ground. Laboratory tests that simulated this quasi-static crush loading were conducted on standard drums and on modified drums. It was found that an opening between the drum and lid was created only when the top of the damaged drum was lower than the tops of adjacent drum. In standard 17H drums, an opening was created typically at a crush of about 4 in and a force of about 15,000 lb. A cylindrical skirt, small enough to fit into the drum and attached to the bottom of the drum lid, prevented separation of lid and drum even at a crush of 7.5 in and a force of 15,000 lb. Drum integrity could also be significantly improved by placing a neoprene bag into the drum before placing the contents into the drum. The drum crush characteristic measured in the experiments were used as input to a nonlinear spring-mass analysis that was used to model the drum response in the accident. It was found that the predicted drum damage corresponded to the damage caused when the side of the truck impacted the gound at a velocity of about 15 fps. If the top drum restraint beams had been used it is likely that the drums would still have been crushed but would have been contained within the trailer after the trailer rolled over. 29 figures, 2 tables