Packaging configurations and handling requirements for nuclear materials
The basic safety concepts for radioactive material are that the package is the primary protection for the public, that the protection afforded by the package should be proportional to the hazard and that the package must be proved by performance. These principles are contained in Department of Energy (DOE), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations which classify hazards of various radioactive materials and link packaging requirements to the physical form and quantities being shipped. Packaging requirements are reflected in performance standards to guarantee that shipments of low hazard quantities will survive the rigors of normal transportation and that shipments of high hazard quantities will survive extreme severity transportation accidents. Administrative controls provide for segregation of radioactive material from people and other sensitive or hazardous material. They also provide the necessary information function to control the total amounts in a conveyance and to assure that appropriate emergency response activities be started in case of accidents or other emergencies. Radioactive materials shipped in conjunction with the nuclear reactor programs include, ores, concentrates, gaseous diffusion feedstocks, enriched and depleted uranium, fresh fuel, spent fuel, high level wastes, low level wastes and transuranic wastes. Each material is packaged and shipped in accordance with regulations and all hazard classes, quantity limits and packaging types are called into use. From the minimal requirements needed to ship the low hazard uranium ores or concentrates to the very stringent requirements in packaging and moving high level wastes or spent fuel, the regulatory system provides a means for carrying out transportation of radioactive material which assures low and controlled risk to the public.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 6204754
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-810583-1; TRN: 81-012282
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Rail carrier workshop, Columbus, OH, USA, 13 May 1981
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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