DEVELOPMENT OF CONTENTS SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE

As part of the process in the UK to assess the suitability of proposals for the packaging of intermediate level radioactive waste (ILW) for long-term storage and ultimate deep disposal, the proposals are compared with Waste Package Specifications and the underlying Phased Geological Repository Concept. However, as an integral part of this consideration must be given to the suitability of the proposed waste packages for transport in the public domain and, in order to do this. It is necessary to specify what can be transported through the public domain based on the requirements and limits defined in the IAEA Transport Regulations. Radioactive waste arises in the UK from the operation and decommissioning of a wide range of facilities and hence there is significant variability in the waste. Furthermore, this means that it is not practicable to have a single waste container, but instead a range of waste containers have been developed to meet the different requirements for the various types of waste. Consequently, it is necessary to establish contents specifications for each type of waste package and a methodology for comparing package waste inventories with these specifications at both the planning and operational stages. This paper discusses the basis for such contents specifications, focussing on activity limits for individual radionuclides algorithms for mixture of radionuclides.