Safe and Secure Transport and Storage of Radioactive Materials

Safe and Secure Transport and Storage of Radioactive Materials reviews best practice and emerging techniques in this area. The transport of radioactive materials is an essential operation in the nuclear industry, without which the generation of nuclear power would not be possible. Radioactive materials also often need to be stored pending use, treatment, or disposal. Given the nature of radioactive materials, it is paramount that transport and storage methods are both safe and secure. A vital guide for managers and general managers in the nuclear power and transport industries, this book covers topics including package design, safety, security, mechanical performance, radiation protection and shielding, thermal performance, uranium ore, fresh fuel, uranium hexafluoride, MOX, plutonium, and more.

Table of Contents:
Related titles List of contributors 1. Introduction to the packaging, transport and storage of radioactive materials 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Overview of the topic 1.3. Scope of book Part One. Frameworks for operational safety 2. Functional requirements for the design of transport packages 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Future trends in the nuclear industry 2.3. General design features to meet regulatory requirements 2.4. Packaging requirements 2.5. Package design 3. Training in the nuclear transport industry 3.1. Legal requirements 3.2. Training scope (as required by the regulations) 3.3. Training required 3.4. Refresher training 3.5. Other training considerations 3.6. Modal guidance 3.7. Sample syllabus List of abbreviations 4. Public relations for the nuclear transport industry 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Risk perception 4.3. Historical overview 4.4. Security concerns 4.5. Risk communication 4.6. Future trends 4.7. Additional information 5. Risk assessment approaches for the transport of radioactive material 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Routine, incident-free transportation 5.3. Transport accidents in which the radioactive cargo is not damaged 5.4. Transport accidents in which the radioactive cargo is damaged 5.5. Transport accidents in which gamma shielding is lost 5.6. Uncertainty in transport risk assessment 5.7. Summary 6. Responding to emergencies associated with the transport of radioactive material 6.1. Introduction – emergency response: a necessary contribution to transport safety 6.2. Some significant events in radioactive material (RAM) transport – lessons drawn 6.3. Existing international requirements and recommendations – future trends 6.4. Roles and responsibilities for governmental and private, national and local organizations 6.5. Specific instrumentation, equipment and assessment tools needed for response according to transport modes 6.6. Other specific issues for transport emergency response organization: international issues 6.7. Conclusions 6.8. Further information and references Part Two. Package design and performance for transport 7. Structural performance of packages for radioactive materials 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Performance requirements 7.3. From requirements to package layout 7.4. Demonstration of package performance 7.5. Conclusions 8. Thermal performance of transportation packages for radioactive materials 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Basics of heat transfer 8.3. Regulatory aspects 8.4. Heat loads 8.5. Thermal design features 8.6. Materials 8.7. Thermal safety evaluations of the package 8.8. Testing and analysis 8.9. Summary and trends 9. Radiation protection by shielding in packages for radioactive materials 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Design base and safety function of shielding 9.3. Current industrial solutions and overview of shielding materials available 9.4. Future trends, new requirements, and severe conditions 10. Criticality analysis of packages for radioactive materials 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Regulatory requirements 10.3. Factors influencing criticality safety 10.4. Establishing the criteria for criticality safety 10.5. Prediction of keff 10.6. Criticality safety assessments 10.7. Current and future challenges 10.8. Irradiated fuel transport: a case study in reducing conservatism 10.9. Summary 11. Sea transport of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes 11.1. Introduction 11.2. Regulatory requirements for sea transport 11.3. The INF code 11.4. Cargo stowage and segregation considerations 11.5. Operations 11.6. Emergency planning 11.7. Security 11.8. Nuclear liability 11.9. International relations 11.10. Future trends 11.11. Further information 11.12. Conclusions Part Three. Packaging, transport and storage of particular types of radioactive materials 12. Packaging, transport and storage of uranium ore concentrates and uranium hexafluoride 12.1. Transport of uranium ore concentrates 12.2. Transport of uranium hexafluoride 12.3. Conclusions 13. Packaging and transport of unirradiated uranium dioxide fuel and nonirradiated mixed oxide fuel 13.1. Transport of unirradiated uranium dioxide fuel 13.2. Transport of nonirradiated mixed oxide fuel 13.3. Conclusions Key words and definitions 14. Transport and storage of spent nuclear fuel 14.1. Spent fuel generation and characteristics 14.2. Overview of storage technologies 14.3. Issues of long-term storage 14.4. Long-term containment of metal gaskets for metal casks 14.5. Interaction between transport and storage on containment 14.6. Stress corrosion cracking of the canister for concrete cask 14.7. Holistic approach to assure transport and storage safety of metal cask 15. Packaging, transport, and storage of high-, intermediate-, and low-level radioactive wastes 15.1. Radioactive waste categories 15.2. Transport and storage of high-level waste 15.3. Transport and storage of low-level waste and intermediate-level waste 15.4. Operational experiences with containers for low-level and intermediate-level waste Final remarks 16. Packaging, transport, and storage of large radioactive components 16.1. Introduction 16.2. Swedish perspective 16.3. International perspective 16.4. Packaging for large components and alternative solutions 16.5. Transport of large components 16.6. Storage of large components in general 16.7. International work and cooperation in the field of handling and transporting large radioactive components 16.8. Future trends 16.9. Sources of further information 17. Packaging, transport, and storage of medical and industrial radioactive materials 17.1. Introduction 17.2. Use and transport of radioisotopes for medical purposes 17.3. Transport of sealed sources used in industry and research 17.4. Aspects of transport of special-form and non-special-form radioactive material 17.5. Transport and storage of disused sources 17.6. Additional regulations for high-activity sealed sources 17.7. Denial of shipments in transport of radioactive material Part Four. Long-term storage and subsequent transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste 18. Wet storage of spent nuclear fuel 18.1. Introduction 18.2. Typical US spent-fuel pool and Fukushima 18.3. Aging management for extended long-term storage 18.4. Pool to pad and vacuum drying 18.5. Likely future trends 18.6. Sources of further information and advice 18.7. Conclusions 19. Long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste: strategies and implications for package design 19.1. Introduction 19.2. Overview of spent-fuel storage systems 19.3. Functional requirements and design loadings 19.4. Design implications of storage systems 19.5. High-level waste storage 19.6. Implications for extended storage 19.7. Trends 20. Transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste after long-term storage 20.1. Introduction 20.2. Possible issues resulting from long-term storage 20.3. Aging management 20.4. Storage/transport options 20.5. Disposition options 20.6. Transportation scenarios 20.7. Retrieval of the spent fuel after transportation 20.8. Conclusions Index

About the Author :
Ken Sorenson is the Department Manager of Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycle Technologies at Sandia National Laboratories