COMMON CASK FLEET MANAGEMENT

The French nuclear research center CEA and AREVA TN International jointly own a fleet of diversified packages to transport nuclear products for research, as well as products including radioactive liquids and wastes coming from nuclear facilities. The CEA and TN International share significant experience in design, licensing, manufacturing and maintenance of diversified packages used in the nuclear industry in France and abroad. Moreover, TN International has been involved in the transportation of radioactive materials at all stages of the nuclear cycle for more than 50 years. In 2008, the CEA and TN International created a partnership to optimize the control and the management of its package fleet based on two main activities: • Maintenance: Maintenance of all packages is executed by a specialized team. Methods of work have been optimized and standardized for the entire fleet and for corrective maintenance for allowable reactivity. The strengths of our organization is : o Expert knowledge of packages o Standardization of maintenance method o Return of experience on maintenance for routine utilization which increases the skills on packages, prevents failure and optimizes the number of maintenance operations All this ensures the required high quality level with respect to the safety requirements and reinforces the Safety Authorities’ trust in our ability to guarantee conformity to the transport license. • Licensing and Design : o Exchange and discussions between the CEA and TN International technical experts on difficult subjects such as radiolysis, thermolysis or release fraction of fission gases, provides opportunities to define the best methodology for safety justifications in response to the ever-increasing requirements of the Regulations. o The same procedure is used to adapt or to develop the package fleet design in response to new needs attributable to new products to be transported or in response to the Authorities’ new requirements. One example is the development of a new frame for packages jointly-owned by the CEA and TN International, the objective of which is to provide an appropriate solution for the features added to the package.