Assessment of the risk of transporting uranium hexafluoride by truck and train

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6553062· OSTI ID:6553062

Geffen, C A; Johnson, J F; Davis, D K; Friley, J R; Ross, B A

This report is the fifth in a series of studies of the risk of transporting potentially hazardous energy materials. The report presents an assessment of the risk of shipping uranium hexafluoride (UF/sub 6/) by truck and rail. The general risk assessment methodology, summarized in Section 3, used in this study is that developed for the first study in this series. The assessment includes the risks from release of uranium hexafluoride during truck or rail transport due to transportation accidents. The contribution to the risk of deteriorated or faulty packaging during normal transport was also considered. The report is sectioned to correspond to the specific analysis steps of the risk assessment model. The transportation system and accident environment are described in Sections 4 and 5. Calculation of the response of the shipping system to forces produced in transportation accidents are presented in Section 6 and the results of a survey to determine the condition of the package during transport are presented in Section 7. Sequences of events that could lead to a release of radioactive material from the shipping cask during transportation are postulated in Section 8 using fault tree analysis. These release sequences are evaluated in Sections 9 through 11, to determine both the likelihood and the possible consequences of each release. Supportive data and analyses are given in the appendices. The results of the risk assessment have been related to the year 1985, when it is projected that 100 GW of electric power will be generated annually by nuclear power plants. It was estimated that approximately 46,000 metric tons (MT) of natural UF/sub 6/ and 14,600 MT of enriched UF/sub 6/ would be shipped in the reference year.

• Research Organization: Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-06-1830
• OSTI ID: 6553062
• Report Number(s): PNL-2211
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050900* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Transport
Handling
& Storage
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACCIDENTS
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
FAULT TREE ANALYSIS
FLUORIDES
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
LAND TRANSPORT
RAIL TRANSPORT
RISK ASSESSMENT
SYSTEM FAILURE ANALYSIS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
TRANSPORT
TRUCKS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM FLUORIDES
URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE
VEHICLES