Introduction Of An Ageing Management Guide For Packages For The Transport Of Radioactive Materials

The scope of the newest IAEA regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material has been expanded by the shipment after storage topic for dual purpose casks. With this integration the consideration of ageing mechanisms is now obligatory for the design of all kind of packages. The German competent authorities BASE and BAM are already dealing for many years with the aspect of ageing evaluation. The ageing mechanisms and their effects on package safety is part of BAM’s responsibility for the assessment of mechanical and thermal design and quality assurance measures. Until now, ageing assessment has focused on dual purpose casks (DPC) package designs which are stored in interim storage facilities. For these package designs, the evaluation of ageing management is mandatory for maintenance of the package design approval certificate with a validity period of 10 years and longer. The ageing management includes a gap analysis, the assessment of ageing effects, experiences from the package operation and knowledge transfer. BAM has drafted a guide that describes how aging management can be considered for all kind of transport package designs. The paper aims to describe this guideline and will give a foresight to the ageing management assessment approach by BAM. The guideline contains in the first part definitions, essential aspects of ageing mechanisms during the design of a package and the organization of the ageing management. A graded system, based on accessibility and exchangeability of packaging components, will be established for the requirements regarding amount and quality of evidence. Then the ageing management of packages will be described. The ageing management is arranged with three levels whose build on each other. The ageing management system is the basis for the ageing management. It comprised measurements with a systemic character which is independent from the package design. Measurements for a certain package design should be defined as ageing management plan. At this level, the ageing mechanisms and the gap analysis program must be performed and subsequently documented. The ageing management documentation is the place for retaining the continuously documentation about the compliance with the specification of specific packages of the package design.