RADCALC: AN ANALYTICAL TOOL FOR SHIPPERS OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL AND WASTE

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ships radioactive materials in support of its research and development, environmental restoration, and national defense activities. The Radcalc software program was developed to assist personnel working on behalf of DOE in packaging and transportation determinations (e.g., isotopic decay, decay heat, regulatory classification, and gas generation) for shipment of radioactive materials and waste. Radcalc performs: • The U.S. Department of Transportation determinations and classifications (i.e., activity concentration for exempt material Type A or B, effective A1/A2, limited quantity, lowspecific activity, highway route controlled quantity, fissile quantity, fissile excepted, reportable quantity, list of isotopes required on shipping papers) • DOE calculations (i.e., transuranic waste, 239Pu-equivalent curies, fissile-gram equivalents) • The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission packaging category (i.e., Category I, II, or III) • Dose-equivalent curie calculations • Radioactive decay calculations using a novel decay methodology and a decay data library of 1,867 isotopes typical of the range of materials encountered in DOE laboratory environments • Hydrogen and helium gas calculations • Pressure calculations. Radcalc is a validated and cost-effective tool to provide consistency, accuracy, reproducibility, timeliness, quality, compliance, and appropriate documentation to shippers of radioactive materials and waste at DOE facilities nationwide. Hundreds of shippers and engineers throughout the DOE Complex routinely use this software to automate various determinations and to validate compliance with the regulations. The effective use of software by DOE sites contributes toward minimizing risk involved in radioactive waste shipments and assuring the safety of workers and the public.