A radioactive waste transportation package monitoring system for normal transport and accident emergency response conditions

Shipments of radioactive material (RAM) constitute but a small fraction of the total hazardous materials shipped in the United States each year. Public perception, however, of the potential consequences of a release from a transportation package containing RAM has resulted in significant regulation of transport operations, both to ensure the integrity of a package in accident conditions and to place operational constraints on the shipper. Much of this attention has focused on shipments of spent nuclear fuel and high level wastes which, although comprising a very small number of total shipments, constitute a majority of the total curies transported on an annual basis. Shipment of these highly radioactive materials is made in what is described in the regulations as a Type B packaging. Type B transportation packages are designed to withstand a sequence of accident scenarios, including drop, puncture, fire, and immersion with virtually no release of contents. Due to the quantities of spent fuel and high level wastes carried in Type B casks and the public perception and apprehension regarding the potential consequences of a release, involvement of a packaging containing spent fuel or high level wastes in any accident will result in a very cautious emergency response until it can be determined that the integrity of the cask is maintained. Typically this involves closure of the transport link or pathway, evacuation of all unnecessary personnel, diversion of traffic from the area, and subsequent investigative and mitigative procedures from trained specialists. An onboard instrumentation/communications package has been developed that, when affixed to a radioactive materials cask, can monitor key indicators of the integrity of the cask and communicate these parameters to emergency responders through modules on the vehicle. Entitled the Transportation Intelligent Monitoring System (TRANSIMS), this package enables remote monitoring of the status and integrity of the cask