TECHNICAL AND REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS IN USING FREIGHT CONTAINERS AS INDUSTRIAL PACKAGES

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Environmental Management (EM), is actively pursuing activities to reduce the radiological risk and clean up the environmental legacy of the nation’s nuclear weapons programs. EM has made significant progress in recent years in the cleanup and closure of sites and is also focusing on longer-term activities necessary for the completion of the cleanup program. The packaging and transportation of contaminated demolition debris and low-level waste (LLW) materials in a safe and cost-effective manner are essential in completing this mission. Toward this end, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Final Rule on Hazardous Materials Regulation issued on January 26, 2004, included a new provision authorizing the use of freight containers (e.g., 20- and 40-foot ISO containers) as Industrial Packages Type 1, 2, or 3 (IP-1, IP-2, and IP-3). This paper will discuss the technical and regulatory considerations in using these newly authorized and large packages for the packaging and transportation of LLW materials.