EVALUATION OF THE SAFETY OF VITRIFIED HIGH LEVEL WASTE SHIPMENTS FROM UK TO CONTINENTAL EUROPE BY SEA.

The return of vitrified high level waste arising from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at Sellafield to continental Europe, e.g. Germany, will start around the end of the century. The shipment of the specific flasks will include transportation via the Irish Sea, the English Channel and the North Sea with ships of the Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL) classified to the INF 3 standard. The assessment approach is to analyse the severity and the frequency of mechanical impacts, fires and explosions with the potential to affect the package. The results show that there is a high safety margin due to the special safety features of the INF 3 ships compared to conventional ships. The remaining accident probability for a transport of vitrified high level waste from UK to the continent is very low. No realistic severe accident scenarios that could seriously affect the flasks and could lead to a radioactivity release have been identified.