Year
2010
Abstract
A Coordinated Research Programme (CRP) on Probabilistic Safety Techniques Related to The Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials was established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the early 1990s. The CRP resulted in the development of a risk assessment package, INTERTRAN2. The INTERTRAN2 Package includes (a) INTERTRAN2, a handling program to assemble and manage input databases, construct input files for INTERTRAN2-RT4 , and execute INTERTRAN2-RT4 cases (b) INTERTRAN2-RT4, based on RADTRAN4.019IOSI (date January 20, 2000), an SI-unit version of RADTRAN4.019 (c) TRANSAT, An Atmospheric dispersion model and (d) a pre-processor which compiles the input file. This is a PC-based Code. The Code calculates the radiation dose received by transport workers and the members of the public as a result of transport of radioactive material. The Code calculates the dose under incident-free conditions of transport and accident conditions of transport. The dose under accident conditions of transport is calculated from the assessed release of the radioactive content from the package. Such release is a function of the ability of the package to withstand an assault and the severity of an accident. In the assessment of the dose the code takes into account the probability of occurrence of an accident of a given severity and the probability of failure of a package of a given design in the accident. The user of the Code has to obtain the accident data from reliable sources for the relevant mode of transport and classify the accidents into different severities on the basis of the mechanical impact and the thermal impact of the accident. The user should further determine the probability of failure of the package (which is considered in the transport risk assessment) for each accident severity. The reliability of the results obtained from using the Code would largely depend on the accuracy of the data used in the input. It is, therefore, necessary for the potential user to be familiarized with the use of the Code and the development of reliable data. There are many individual users all over the world who use INTERTRAN2. However, the need for conducting a familiarization programme is presently felt by the Member States of IAEA as no formal training programme has been conducted for the benefit of the potential users of INTERTRAN2 in the past. Accordingly IAEA has taken up a proposal to conduct a familiarization programme on the use of INTERTRAN2. The training programme is intended to familiarize the participant with the: (1) use of INTERTRAN2 (2) equations used in the Code for making dose calculations (3) atmospheric release and calculation of the resulting dose (4) names of variables used in the code and (5) data requirements. The programme would include hands-on training in using the Pre-processor, calculating the dose values and interpreting the results. The participants would be able to appreciate the capabilities and the limitations of the Code. At the end of the familiarization programme the participant would be able to collect the relevant data from reliable sources, use the software package with a proper understanding of the calculations and interpret the results of the calculations. The impact of transport of radioactive material is determined by INTERTRAN2 in terms of person Sv. A detailed familiarization programme for the potential users from Member States which has been recommended would be useful for the experts who are engaged in risk assessment and the decision makers whose familiarity with transport of radioactive material may be limited and are in a position to decide whether or not to use of the INTERTRAN2 code. The participant would be in a position determine the impact of transport of a single consignment or a campaign of consignments of radioactive material using INTERTRAN2.