Concept Study for a Passively Cooled ISO Container for the Transport of Materials from Dounreay

Over the next few years the engineering support required to meet the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s strategic targets for redistribution of materials will ramp up significantly. To carry out these activities efficiently requires innovative solutions to be applied. This paper describes an approach for the transport of certain categories of heat-generating materials which offers operational and payload benefits. For the transport of certain materials, the use of a relatively small package is required for handling purposes, carrying internal product cans of material containing fissile product. It is proposed that ‘INS3578’ packages could be used. The packages are to be contained within an ISO container. Due to the heat-generating nature of some of the material to be transported, consideration must be given to the evacuation of heat from the container. A passively cooled container has the advantage of not requiring the complication of a forced ventilation system and refrigeration plant. This has operational, licensing and security benefits. The paper describes a concept study undertaken to investigate a passively cooled container. The paper describes options that have been considered and the results from calculations undertaken to determine the package temperature. The results from the concept study suggest that with further work and further consideration of the heat load to be placed inside the container, the concept of a passively cooled ISO container for the transport of material might be a viable option.