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Title: Regulatory concerns for leakage testing of packagings with three O-ring closure seals

Conference ·
OSTI ID:555348
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
  2. Eagle Research Group, Inc., Germantown, MD (United States)
  3. Dept. of Energy, Germantown, MD (United States)

The American National Standard for Radioactive Materials--Leakage Tests on Packages for Shipment (ANSI N14.5) provides guidance for leakage rate testing to show that a particular packaging complies with regulatory requirements and also provides guidance in determining appropriate acceptance criteria. Recent radioactive packagings designs have incorporated three O-ring closure seals, the middle O-ring being the containment seal. These designs have the potential for false positive results of leakage rate tests. The volume between the containment O-ring and the inner O-ring is used for the helium gas required for the leakage rate tests to reduce both the amount of helium used and the time required to conduct the tests. A leak detector samples the evacuated volume between the outer O-ring and the containment O-ring. False positive results can be caused in two ways, a large leakage in the containment seal or leakage in the inner seal. This paper will describe the problem together with possible solutions/areas that need to be addressed in a Safety Analysis Report for Packagings before a particular packaging design can be certified for transport.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
555348
Report Number(s):
ANL/ET/CP-92453; CONF-970744-; ON: DE97053876; TRN: 98:008610
Resource Relation:
Conference: 38. annual meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials management, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 20-24 Jul 1997; Other Information: PBD: [1997]
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English