Radioactive waste material testing capabilities in Romania

Radioactive material including wastes, generated by Romanian nuclear facilities are packaged in accordance with national and IAEA's Regulation for a safe transport to the disposal center. The evaluation and certification of packages is accomplished by subjecting these packages to normal and simulated test conditions in order to prove the package to technical performances. The standards provide to package designers the possibility to use analysis, testing or a combination of these. The paper describes the experimental and simulating qualification tests for type A packages used for transport and storage of radioactive wastes (low level). Testing are used to substantiate assumptions used in analytical models and to demonstrate package structural response. There are also presented testing capabilities which are used to perform and simulate the required qualification tests. By direct comparison of analysis and experimental results, the degree of reliability of analytical methods and admissibility of assumptions taken in package designing and in demonstrating its safety under conditions of INR - Pitesti, within the contract between the INR - Pitesti and IAEA - Vienna, were determined. (author)