DEVELOPMENT OF THE BULK TRITIUM SHIPPING PACKAGING
A new radioactive shipping packaging for transporting bulk quantities of tritium, the Bulk Tritium Shipping Package (BTSP), has been designed for the Department of Energy (DOE) as a replacement for a package designed in the early 1970s. This paper summarizes significant design features and describes how the design satisfies the regulatory safety requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The BTSP design incorporates many improvements over its predecessor by implementing improved testing, handling, and maintenance capabilities, while improving manufacturability and incorporating new engineered materials. This paper also discusses the results from testing of the BTSP to 10 CFR 71 Normal Conditions of Transport and Hypothetical Accident Condition events. The programmatic need of the Department of Energy (DOE) to ship bulk quantities of tritium has been satisfied since the late 1970s by the UC-609 shipping package. The current Certificate of Conformance for the UC-609, USA/9932/B(U) (DOE), will expire in late 2011. Since the UC-609 was not designed to meet current regulatory requirements, it will not be recertified and thereby necessitates a replacement Type B shipping package for continued DOE tritium shipments in the future. A replacement tritium packaging called the Bulk Tritium Shipping Package (BTSP) is currently being designed and tested by Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). The BTSP consists of two primary assemblies, an outer Drum Assembly and an inner Containment Vessel Assembly (CV), both designed to mitigate damage and to protect the tritium contents from leaking during the regulatory Hypothetical Accident Condition (HAC) events and during Normal Conditions of Transport (NCT). During transport, the CV rests on a silicone pad within the Drum Liner and is covered with a thermal insulating disk within the insulated Drum Assembly. The BTSP packaging weighs approximately 500 lbs without contents and is 50-1/2 inches high by 24-1/2 inches in outside diameter. With contents the gross weight of the BTSP is 650 lbs. The BTSP is designed for the safe shipment of 150 grams of tritium in a solid or gaseous state. To comply with the federal regulations that govern Type B shipping packages, the BTSP is designed so that it will not lose tritium at a rate greater than the limits stated in 10CFR 71.51 of 10{sup -6} A2 per hour for the 'Normal Conditions of Transport' (NCT) and an A2 in 1 week under 'Hypothetical Accident Conditions' (HAC). Additionally, since the BTSP design incorporates a valve as part of the tritium containment boundary, secondary containment features are incorporated in the CV Lid to protect against gas leakage past the valve as required by 10CFR71.43(e). This secondary containment boundary is designed to provide the same level of containment as the primary containment boundary when subjected to the HAC and NCT criteria.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 972207
- Report Number(s):
- SRNS-STI-2008-00103; TRN: US1001961
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proceedings of INMM 49th Annual Meeting
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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