A NEW SOLUTION TO DECONTAMINABLE AND INSPECTABLE PACKAGE HANDLING FEATURES THAT CAN BE BLOCKED BY A 90° ROTATION

Nuclear industry uses lot of packages to handle, transport and store radiological materials. The large majority of these packages needs to be externally decontaminated and particularly handling features which comes in contact with contaminated handling tools. The patented invention addresses ease of decontamination and decontamination control for handling features on nuclear packages. This is a very important feature e.g. for avoiding transfer of contamination and release of contamination into the environment. These operations are difficult to perform in a nuclear environment as they are often undertaken remotely and when not remotely they must at least respect the ALARP principle to limit radiological exposure of workers. The patented solution also improves the quality of the package fixation and its ease of inspection. Handling features are indeed an essential part of the nuclear package. They must be exempt of defects due to the catastrophic consequences their failure would have. Quality must be excellent and this invention makes it easier to control. As a consequence this can also reduce maintenance operation which is in line with the ALARP principle. Some means will also be presented to adapt certain existing handling devices in order to put such invention in application within existing plants and package stores. Due to all the described advantages such invention enables manufacturing and operational costs saving and failure and contamination risks reduction. The presentation will provide an overview of the operational and manufacturing difficulties on standard handling features and will show how the patented invention eases decontamination and implementation on nuclear containers.