WHITE PAPER: DEMONSTRATION OF EQUIVALENCY OF CANE AND SOFTWOOD BASED CELOTEX FOR 9975 PACKAGING

Cane-based Celotex(trademark) has been used extensively in various DOE packages as a thermal insulator and impact absorber. Cane-based Celotex(trademark) for the 9975 was manufactured by Knight-Celotex Fiberboard at their Marrero Plant in Louisiana. However, Knight-Celotex Fiberboard shut down their Marrero Plant in early 2007 due to impacts from hurricane Katrina and other economic factors. Therefore, cane-based Celotex(trademark) is no longer available for use in the manufacture of new 9975 packages. Knight-Celotex Fiberboard has Celotex(trademark) manufacturing plants in Danville, VA and Sunbury, PA that use softwood and hardwood, respectively, as a raw material in the manufacturing of Celotex(trademark). The purpose of this White Paper is to demonstrate that softwood-based Celotex(trademark) from the Knight-Celotex Danville Plant has performance equivalent to cane-based Celotex(trademark) from the Knight-Celotex Marrero Plant for transportation in a 9975 package