A LOW LEVEL WASTE TRANSPORT PACKAGING SYSTEM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Historically, within the United Kingdom, the majority of solid low level radioactive waste arisings from the nuclear industry have been transported to the national Low Level Waste Repository in Cumbria for storage and disposal. This repository, which is operated by LLW Repository Ltd on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, is the UK’s primary low level waste repository and has been in operation for over 50 years. However, although additional vault space has been created and there are plans for future expansion of the repository, the potential capacity is below the forecast volume of future low level waste arisings. This projected shortfall in capacity was one of the reasons the UK Government and its Devolved Administrations announced a new policy in 2007 for the long term management of solid low level radioactive waste that sets out a more flexible, sustainable approach for managing solid low level waste (LLW) in the long-term with the emphasis on managing LLW at higher levels of the waste management hierarchy in order to minimise waste volumes for disposal. As a result of this new policy, LLW Repository Ltd identified the need to develop a new IP-2 transport packaging system to complement their existing packaging fleet. Unlike the existing packages, which were specifically designed for single use transport to and emplacement within the concrete lined vaults of the repository, the new packaging system (design number LLWR/TC02) has been designed as a re-useable packaging system specifically for transporting waste to treatment and recycling facilities. This paper describes the components which make up the TC02 IP-2 packaging system and highlights the key design features and the various configuration options of the packaging system.