Dedicated Packagings for the Transportation of Alpha Waste

This paper deals with the dedicated packagings already in operation or designed lor the transport in France of the alpha bearing (or TRU) wastes, issued from the process cycle. which belong to the categories of Low and Intermediate Level Waste. Among the products involved are glove boxes contaminated by plutonium and uranium. working clothes, metallic equipment, cotton, incineration ashes, filter clements. uranium rejects. Some wastes can be sent directly to the shallow land repository operated by ANORA at Soulaines for low level waste. This applies to the alpha-bearing wastes containing less than 0.1 Ci a per ton ( 4.1 o·6 TBq per kg) of conditioned waste. Such wastes have \"very low\" and \"low\" activity contents. Other wastes cannot be accepted in this final disposal site and must be transported either to an interim storage site set up at the Cadarache research center or to a Cogema plant tor plutonium recovery and/or waste reconditioning.