Transport of Cobalt 60 from the Argentine Nuclear Power Plant in Embalse

Full text: The purpose of this presentation is to point out some relevant issues related to the transport of cobalt 60 for domestic uses and export from the Argentine Nuclear Power Plant located in Embalse (ENPP). It is remarked that in last 22 years, ENPP produced about 2600 PBq (70 MCi) of Co-60, and that Argentina is the third Co-60 producer, after Canada and Russia. It is mentioned that in Argentina there are facilities which manufacture Zircaloy seamless tubes and reactivity control bars containing cobalt 59 to be used in ENPP, the operation of Candu reactor at ENPP including cobalt-related activities, and the manufacture and commercialization of Co-60 sealed sources. The Argentine Nuclear Regulatory Authority verifies the compliance of nuclear activities with regulatory standards, including those related to the transport of radioactive material. Then, it is described the process for obtaining Co-60 at ENPP with an activity concentration to allow its use in medicine and industry. After that, is considered in detail the type of package used for the transport of Co-60 from ENPP: it is to say, Type B(U) package designs that must be approved by the Competent Authority origin of the design, and they are able to withstand routine, normal and accident conditions of transport, including severe impacts, fires and immersion in water. The overall dimensions of packages are about 1.0 m to 1.5 m diameter by 1.2 m to 1.8 m high, as well as the gross mass could vary from 6500 kg to 9500 kg. Radioactive contents consist of Co-60 sealed sources (called pencils), with an activity range from 8 PBq to 16 PBq. Then, it is considered activities prior to dispatch of Type B(U) packages at ENPP, including the preparation of radioactive contents, packaging and package (labelling and marking) as well as necessary tests and documentation for transport in order to fulfil pertinent requirements of package design operation manual of the package and related standards. Finally, it is pointed out the Type B(U) package tiedown system to the vehicle, and the proper placards of the loaded vehicle ready to dispatch. (authors)