Croft News - Design, Testing and Licensing of the IP 2m Box for Intermediate Level Waste Storage and Disposal
May 2009
Croft was contracted by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Winfrith in 2006 to design, manufacture, test and license an Intermediate Level Waste IP transport packaging (2m Box Design No 3954) for decommissioning waste from the Dragon and SGHWR reactors at Winfrith. The package had to meet the requirements of the existing Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) 2m Box specification. The 2m Box was designed and tested to meet the requirements for an IP-2 package design as a freight container.
The 2m Box is intended for on-site storage at Winfrith and possibly another site for 50 years and subsequent transport to the NDA repository without further processing. The design of the box closure includes a leak testable sealing system which is capable of being replaced at a later date (eg before shipment), by the removal of the lid and replacement of seals remote from the box location. Initially the specification for the 2m Box called for rating for gross weight of 40t, but this was raised to 50t as it was realised that the efficient use of the capacity of the box would result in a 50t gross weight. Two prototype 2m Boxes were produced with one being provided with 100mm of concrete shielding and the other without any shielding. This shielded box was filled with simulated waste and a concrete grout cap fitted and the 50t package was dropped onto the massive target from the regulatory test height of 300mm. The test showed that the box performed as expected, meeting all the requirements of both ISO 1496/1 and IAEA TS-R-1 paragraph 622. In particular there was no loss of shielding and no effect on the containment system that would reduce its effectiveness.
A full paper describing this work is available in the papers section of this website.
Croft's containers, packaging, packages and transport solutions are suitable for the following materials:
radioactive, nuclear, isotope, source, waste, sample, intermediate level waste, ILW, low level waste, LLW, Type A radioactive, Type B radioactive, IP radioactive, Type A fissile, Type B fissile, DOT 7A, 20WC, DOT Spec.
Croft has an extensive and a total capacity in the following areas: Standard Products, Customised Design, Manufacturing and Testing of Prototypes, Competent Authority Approvals, Supply of Containers, Maintenance of Containers, Supervision of Container Manufacture, Regulatory Testing, Project Management, Consultancy, Option Studies, Feasibility Studies.
