THE TN-RAM - A NEW CASK FOR SHIPPING HIGH ACTIVITY IRRADIATED HARDWARE

In the United States the market for transportation of irradiated spent fuel is relatively small at the present time because reprocessing is not being pursued and there is as yet no repository or central storage facility to which spent fuel can be sent. However, there is a thriving market for the transport of compacted irradiated non-fuel bearing hardware. Most of these irradiated components are shipped as low level waste from BWR power stations to Barnwell, sc or Hanford, WA for disposal. Irradiated hardware differs from most low-level waste in that it has a high activity largely as a result of Co-60 which has been produced as an activation product. Because of the high activity, a Type B packaging is needed to ship this material.