Study on transportation of low level waste package for disposal

It is anticipated that a large number of waste packages will be transported from waste processing facilities to a disposal facility when the disposal of Low Level Waste (LLW) will be begun in earnest. It is needed to study on measures of safe, economic and feasible transportation of waste packages. Regulatory matters for transportation of radioactive waste, legislation, regulations and standards, are checked. We have conducted a study on cost and transportation measure for waste packages from Tokai reprocessing plant and MOX fuel fabrication facilities in Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories. Here, the number, radioactive inventory and properties of the waste packages are quoted from the second progress report on research and development for TRU waste disposal in Japan. We sorted out the waste packages by the type of packages based on the legislation for transportation of radioactive material. We have studied the packaging for each type of package, and have estimated number of the packages of a conveyance, number of conveyances for transportation of all waste packages. As a result, the waste packages constitutes ca. 86 % of Industrial package Type 2, ca.2% of Type A package and ca. 12 % of Type B package. Number of transport by sea for the waste packages is estimated as about 120 times. (author)