5 YEARS OPERATION OF THE NCS 45 PACKAGE FOR IRRADIATED FUEL RODS

The development of the type B(U)F-96 package NCS 45 for the transport of irradiated fuel rods was presented at PATRAM 2004 [1]. The comprehensive drop test program and the drop test results were presented at PATRAM 2007 [2]. The package design was approved in the country of origin Germany end of 2008, some seven years after the application for package approval. The presentation at hand will show the “highlights” of the first 5 years of operation. The first step after approval was its validation in other countries. In some countries the validation process is a relatively fast and administrative process whereas in other countries extensive reviews are carried out. The presentation will give a short summary of procedures and questions asked. The next step was the introduction of the packaging into the operations handbooks of the respective nuclear installations. In general, a site specific handling instruction comprising a detailed step by step plan must be written by DAHER-NCS, checked by the nuclear site and – at least in Germany – double checked by the supervising expert organization of the nuclear site. The presentation will show schematically the evolution of the licensed package handling procedure into the site specific handling procedures. Finally, the presentation will give a summary of the transports carried out so far, and the first periodical checks after 3 years of operation. Lessons learned during this initial operation period conclude the presentation.