TRANSPORTATION OF IMMOBILIZED RADIOACTIVE WASTES: HOW DOES IT FIT IN THE REGULATIONS?

During the next decade, there will be a large increase in the transport of immobilized radioactive wastes, either in drums or in other larger packages. These packages will be destined for disposal and need to be transported from the sites at which they are produced. An essential requirement for disposal will be that the immobilized waste package should arrive at the reposi· tory in a suitable state for disposal, which in practice means that it should not have suffered damage during transport. Radioactive waste packages fall into one of the following categories in the 1985 lAEA Transport Regulations (Safety Series No. 6): (a) Type A (very limited num· bers), (b) LSA·Ill, (c) Type B. The range of wastes which will fall into the LSA·Dl category will depend upon the interpretation of Safety Series No. 6. All packages which do not fall within either the Type A or LSA·Ill categories will have to meet the Type B requirements. The paper analyses a number of package proposals currently being developed in the United Kingdom and considers whether the 1985 Transport Regulations are satisfactory for the future transport of immobilized and packaged radioactive wastes.