Aging Management Assessment of Type B Transportation Packages

The condition of a physical system such as a radioactive materials transportation package can change as it ages. The degree to which aging effects are identified, prevented or mitigated will depend on the types of inspections and maintenance performed on the critical components of the system. Routine inspections and maintenance may not address degradation mechanisms that are difficult to observe and can act over long periods of time. Aging management is a systematic effort to ensure that the system performs as designed over its entire service life and that degradation mechanisms do not prematurely end the service life. The Nuclear Waste Management Division (NWMD) of Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has developed an Aging Management Procedure and began performing aging management assessments on its Type B(U) packages. This paper discusses the Procedure and briefly describes the aging management assessment performed on the Roadrunner Transportation Package to demonstrate a practical application of the aging management process.