DESIGN AND TESTING OF NIREX 4m ILW BOX

United Kingdom Nirex Limited (Nirex) has been established to develop and operate a deep underground repository for the disposal of the UK' s intermediate level waste (IL W) and certain low level waste (LL W). Nirex has defined a limited number of standard containers for packaging the range of wastes arising from the UK. One standard container that has been defined is the 4m IL W box. The 4m IL W box will be used to transport decommissioning IL W from sites of arising to a deep repository and for disposal of that waste in the repository. Consequently it must be designed to meet requirements for transport, handling and disposal. The 4m IL W box is designed to meet International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Safety Series 6 (SS6) requirements for an Industrial Packaging (IP-2) Freight Container. It is both a transport package and a disposal package and is suitable for waste materials that conform with the requirements for Low Specific Activity or Surface Contaminated Objects. The box is rated at 65t and has a nominal payload volume of 11m3 . A key feature of the design is the use of stainless steel for the structural and containment elements of the packaging. This approach has been adopted as the filled package may need to undergo interim storage pending the availability of a deep repository in the UK and the use of stainless steel will reduce the risk of deterioration of the packaging during this period.