DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW TYPE A(F)RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL PACKAGING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
In a coordinated effort, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposed the elimination of the Specification Packaging from 49 CFR 173.[1] In accordance with the Federal Register, issued on October 1, 2004, new fabrication of Specification Packages would no longer be authorized. In accordance with the NRC final rulemaking published January 26, 2004, Specification Packagings are mandated by law to be removed from service no later than October 1, 2008. This coordinated effort and resulting rulemaking initiated a planned phase out of Specification Type B and Type A fissile (F) material transportation packages within the Department of Energy (DOE) and its subcontractors. One of the Specification Packages affected by this regulatory change is the UN1A2 Specification Package, per DOT 49 CFR 173.417(a)(6). To maintain continuing shipments of DOE materials currently transported in UN1A2 Specification Package after the existing authorization expires, a replacement Type A(F) material packaging design is under development by the Savannah River National Laboratory. This paper presents a summary of the prototype design effort and testing of the new Type A(F) Package development for the DOE. This paper discusses the progress made in the development of a Type A Fissile Packaging to replace the expiring 49 CFR UN1A2 Specification Fissile Package. The Specification Package was mostly a single-use waste disposal container. The design requirements and authorized radioactive material contents of the UN1A2 Specification Package were defined in 49 CFR. A UN1A2 Specification Package was authorized to ship up to 350 grams of U-235 in any enrichment and in any non-pyrophoric form. The design was specified as a 55-gallon 1A2 drum overpack with a body constructed from 18 gauge steel with a 16 gauge drum lid. Drum closure was specified as a standard 12-gauge ring closure. The inner product container size was not specified but was listed as any container that met Specification 7A requirements per 49 CFR 178.350. Specification 7A containers were required to withstand Type A packaging tests required by 49CFR173.465 with compliance demonstrated through testing, analysis or similarity to other containers. The maximum weight of the 7A product container, the radioactive content, and any internal packaging was limited to 200 lbs. The total gross weight for the UN1A2 Specification Package was limited to 350 lbs. No additional restrictions were applied. Authorization for use did not require the UN1A2 Specification Package to be tested to the Normal Conditions of Transport (NCT) and Hypothetical Accident Conditions (HAC) required for performance based, Type A(F) packages certified by the NRC or DOE. The Type A(F) Packaging design discussed in this paper is required to be in compliance with the regulatory safety requirements defined in Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 10 CFR 71.41 through 71.47 and 10 CFR71.71. Sub-criticality of content must be maintained under the Hypothetical Accident Conditions specified under 10 CFR71.73. These federal regulations, and other applicable DOE Orders and Guides, govern design requirements for a Type A(F) package. Type A(F) packages with less than an A2 quantity of radioactive material are not required to have a leak testable boundary. With this exception a Type A(F) package design is subject to the same test requirements set forth for the design of a performance based Type B packaging.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 972206
- Report Number(s):
- SRNS-STI-2008-00104; TRN: US201006%%997
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proceedings of INMM 49th Annual Meeting
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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