Argentine Experience in Licensing of a Type-B(U) Package Design for the Transport of Cobalt 60

In addition to electric power, about 800 PBq of cobalt 60 are obtained in Argentina every year from the operation of a CANDU nuclear power reactor. Thus, this country has become an important exporter of such radionuclide and, therefore, the need arose to develop a packaging for its handling. In October 1994, the Argentine Competent Authority (ACA) issued Approval Certificate RN0072/B(U)-85 corresponding to a Type B(U) package design for the transport of 12.95 PBq of 6 °Co as a special form radioactive material. The certificate covers packagings with Serial Numbers 1 and 2. This paper points out relevant technical issues related to the licensing process, mostly focused as from the Competent Authority's point of view. It basically describes the sequence of steps that led to decisions regarding the main technical areas involved and to a consensus between the applicant, INV AP SE 1 and the A CA. Such technical areas were: analysis on heat transfer, structural performance under impulsive loads, and shielding calculations, all of them under both normal and accident conditions of transport. Additionally, with regard to thermal evaluation and temperatures, radiation level, and leakage measurement, this paper summarizes the results obtained from a comparative analysis of the values obtained during design, from tests performed before first shipment of packages and from independent calculations carried out by the ACA.