TRANSPORTATION OF HIGH LEVEL WASTES

Fuel reprocessing generates wastes. One form is heat generating and is described as high level wastes (HLW). The British Nuclear Fuels reprocessing plant at Sellafield, in the United Kingdom generates HLW in a liquid form and special measures ensure the safe storage of this material. Additional facilities at Sellafield are being constructed to convert the high level liquid wastes into solid form using a vitrification process. The vitrified wastes will be encapsulated in special stainless steel containers and it is assumed that a proportion will be returned to the country of origin. The international transport of HLW presents a new challenge to the transporter and poses some interesting problems for the flask designer. Nuclear Transport Limited have been commissioned by British Nuclear Fuels to study the transportation of HLW and identify the most suitable flask design. Initial studies examined the utilization of existing LWR fuel flasks, but it was evident that poor payload and technical incompatibility made this option unattractive. It was decided to design a new flask for this purpose and the paper presents the outline design. The paper also highlights the special con· siderations in the flask design arising from the properties of the solid waste material. Transport modes and projected quantities are discussed.