Year
2008
Abstract
A new radioactive shipping packaging for transporting bulk quantities of tritium, the Bulk Tritium Shipping Package (BTSP), has been designed for the Department of Energy (DOE) as a replacement for a package designed in the early 1970s. This paper summarizes significant design features and describes how the design satisfies the regulatory safety requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The BTSP design incorporates many improvements over its predecessor by implementing improved testing, handling, and maintenance capabilities, while improving manufacturability and incorporating new engineered materials. This paper also discusses the results from testing of the BTSP to 10 CFR 71 Normal Conditions of Transport and Hypothetical Accident Condition events.[1] The programmatic need of the Department of Energy (DOE) to ship bulk quantities of tritium has been satisfied since the late 1970s by the UC-609 shipping package. The current Certificate of Conformance for the UC-609, USA/9932/B(U) (DOE), will expire in late 2011. Since the UC-609 was not designed to meet current regulatory requirements, it will not be recertified and thereby necessitates a replacement Type B shipping package for continued DOE tritium shipments in the future. A replacement tritium packaging called the Bulk Tritium Shipping Package (BTSP) is currently being designed and tested by Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).