Application of the Transport System Concept to the Transport of LSA Waste

Abstract

Transport Regulations rely essentially on the packaging and do not take into account the contribution to safety which may be made by other features of the operation. In some situations, mainly for routine transports not fully complying with the Regulations, it would be beneficial to envisage the possibility of using a package which does not meet all the Type B requirements, complemented by additional safety measures put in place to compensate for these shortfalls. The ‘Transport System’ concept will take into account the contributions to safety from these additional measures. It will ensure that the proposed system is at least as safe as a reference operation complying fully with the Regulations. If this equivalent safety level can be properly demonstrated, the Competent Authority will provide a ‘Transport System Approval’ for well defined shipments over a specific period. Two examples are presented. In the first case, a thermally insulated ISO container is envisaged for the transport of drums containing combustible LSA material having a total activity per conveyance up to 600 A₂. In the second one, two dedicated trucks transporting conditioned waste in drums has been shielded so as to comply with the regulatory dose rate limits. These examples show the benefits of the TS concept. Nevertheless, the full requirements of the Regulations should be implemented as far as reasonably practicable, and the TS concept should be applied only to particular difficulties and is not suitable to all situations. Therefore, some general restrictions (applicable to every TS) have to be set by IAEA. Depending on the case, complementary ones may be required by the CA. Bearing in mind possible restrictions presented in this paper, the TS concept will be useful in solving some of the current problems of the transport of waste without needing a fundamental change in the Regulations.