TN® 106 – IR200: A New Frame without Impact on the Safety of the Package

TN® 106 and IR200 packages are type B(U)F packages used to transport irradiated material between research reactors and hot laboratories. They are transported using a customized transport frame.The ASN (The French Nuclear Safety Authority) required AREVA TN and the CEA (The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) to justify the absence of any impact of the frame on the package safety. A new frame was designed to integrate a non-aggressive geometry (in particular at the interfaces with the cask) and to facilitate the separation of the frame and the package in the event of a brutal shock (mechanical fuse liaison: straps and shearing pins). The new design of the frame was validated by the French Competent Authority in 2014.This paper will describe the ASN requirements regarding “features added to package” and the approach proposed by AREVA TN and the CEA to meet them. If these requirements are not taken in consideration at the inception of a new package design, performance of the package may bediminished.