EARLY TESTS OF DRUM TYPE PACKAGINGS - THE LEWALLEN REPORT
The need for robust packagings for radioactive materials (RAM) was recognized from the earliest days of the nuclear industry. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Rocky Flats Plant developed a packaging for shipment of Pu in the early 1960's, which became the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) 6M specification package. The design concepts were employed in other early packagings. Extensive tests of these at Savannah River Laboratory (now Savannah River National Laboratory) were performed in 1969 and 1970. The results of these tests were reported in 'Drum and Board-Type Insulation Overpacks of Shipping Packages for Radioactive Materials', by E. E. Lewallen. The Lewallen Report was foundational to design of subsequent drum type RAM packaging. This paper summarizes this important early study of drum type packagings. The Lewallen Report demonstrated the ability packagings employing drum and insulation board overpacks and engineered containment vessels to meet the Type B package requirements. Because of the results of the Lewallen Report, package designers showed high concern for thermal protection of 'Celotex'. Subsequent packages addressed this by following strategies like those recommended by Lewallen and by internal metal shields and supplemental, encapsulated insulation disks, as in 9975. The guidance provide by the Lewallen Report was employed in design of a large number of drum size packagings over the following three decades. With the increased public concern over transportation of radioactive materials and recognition of the need for larger margins of safety, more sophisticated and complex packages have been developed and have replaced the simple packagings developed under the Lewallen Report paradigm.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 984858
- Report Number(s):
- SRNL-STI-2010-00465; TRN: US1005971
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International Symposium on the Packaging and Transport of Radioactive Material
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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