THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS EXPERIENCED BY PACKAGES DURING ROUTINE TRANSPORT

Packages carrying radioactive material experience a range of environmental conditions during routine transport including temperatures, pressures and shocks. This paper examines the current requirements in the IAEA Regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material (TS-R-1) and the associated guidance (TS-G-1.1), and outlines the need for a research project to confirm the validity of the current requirements and improve the existing guidance. As for the mechanical loadings the packages are subjected to, the advisory material TS-G-1.1 indicates that, due to the differences in transport infrastructures and practices, the recommended acceleration factors, which represent the package inertial effects, could differ from one country to the other and that the package designer should confirm the acceptability of those factors. In this context, the Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (IRSN) performed a bibliographical study relative to accelerations measured on packages or conveyances during transport. This study shows some variations with the acceleration factors mentioned in TS-G-1.1. It also highlights areas where data is missing. In these areas, further measurement campaigns should be performed. The international project under the auspices of IAEA will provide opportunities for collecting a large set of results and facilitating the needed international consultation.