MAINTENANCE OF THE PACKAGINGS USED FOR THE TRANSPORT OF SPENT FUEL

Regular maintenance of packagings used for the transport of spent fuel has been carried out in Europe for the past three years. The three companies involved in this kind of transport (Cog6ma, Nuclear Transport and Pacific Nuclear Transport) have agreed on a common policy for these operations and, in practice, perform the maintenance work at a special facility (AMEC) at the La Hague reprocessing plant in France. This facility was erected in 1983, and commissioned in January 1984. The paper deals with the typical maintenance operations at the AMEC facility, the principles of control applied during maintenance, maintenance experience and future development and prospects.