RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS PACKAGING (RAMPAC) DATABASE

The Radioactive Materials Packaging (RAMPAC) database is designed to store and retrieve information on all packagings certified for the transport of radioactive materials within the boundaries of the United States. The information in RAMPAC is publicly available and the database has been designed so that individuals without programming experience can search for and retrieve information using a menu driven system. RAMPAC currently contains information on over 650 radioactive material shipping packagings. Information is gathered from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). RAMPAC is the only tool which is available to radioactive material shippers which contains and reports packaging information from all three federal agencies. The DOT information includes packaging listings from Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain and Japan which have DOT certificates of competent authority and are authorized for use within the United States for import and export shipments only. Originally developed in 1981 by DOE as a research and development tool RAMPAC has, in recent years, proven to be highly useful to operational personnel. As packagings become obsolete or materials to be transported change, it is essential for shippers of radioactive materials to be able to determine if alternative packagings exist prior to designing new packagings. RAMPAC is designed to minimize the time required to make this determination, thus assisting the operational community in meeting their goals.