9975 Plutonium Package Validation Experience in Japan

As part of the global effort to facilitate removal and disposition of excess legacy plutoniummaterials which can be used in weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a major packaging licensevalidation effort in Japan was recently completed for the TYPE B 9975 Shipping Package.These packages had to be validated to meet the rigorous requirements imposed by the regulatoryauthority. The 9975 certification validation involved a review of the entire Safety AnalysisReport for Package (SARP) and required new calculations to more accurately determine thecriticality margins as well as thermal performance. In addition the decision was made to performa drop test to demonstrate the robustness of the package for one of the largest long distanceinternational shipments of weapons usable plutonium made in recent years. This paperdocuments these validation challenges and the resulting lessons learned.