SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT NEEDS FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

To ensure the safe and reliable transportation of radioactive materials and components, from both the front and back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle, a transport management company needs three key elements: specialized knowledge, specialized training and specialized equipment. These three elements result. in part, from national and international regulations which require specialized handling of all radioactive shipments. While the reasons behind the first two elements are readily apparent, the role of specialized equipment is often not considered until too late in the shipment process even though it plays an integral part of any radioactive material transport. This paper will describe the specialized equipment needed to transport three of the major commodities comprising the bulk of international nuclear transports: natural uranium (UF6), low enriched uranium (UF6) and fresh nuclear fuel.