TRANSPORT OF LARGE OBJECTS – AN INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

The transport of large objects are becoming of major interest for the nuclear fuel cycle industry and the utilities world-wide. Successful transports of steam generators in the US and in France are some recent examples. Also, new waste streams from dismantling activities come into existence on a regular basis. Current transport regulations have yet to take fully into account these evolutions. The fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Transport Safety Standards Committee has accepted “large object transport” as a topic in the current review cycle of the SSR-6 Transport Regulations is [1] welcomed by industry. While some progress has been made, notably on fissile exceptions in the new SSR-6, some issues need further consideration. The proposed paper will describe, from an industry perspective: • the need for industry to transport large objects safely, efficiently and cost-effectively, • the current status of the Regulations, taking into account recent progress, • the difficulties in applying the current Regulations will be high-lighted and proposals made on the following points : o The classification of SCO-1 objects; o LSA-1 fissile material; o Drop testing of Industrial Packages o The special arrangement procedure • Some recent examples will be used as an illustration. Finally, a new approach will be presented for consideration on a long-term perspective. The current IAEA philosophy is based on packaging performance. The packaging has to meet all of the safety requirements (structural resistance, thermal protection, shielding, criticality, confinement, etc). A recent development in France is that the various safety requirements need not necessarily be attached to a packaging only, but could be assured by what can be called a \"transport system\". Transport systems are interesting in particular when packagings are no longer possible because of the size or weight of the radioactive objects.