An evaluation of Department of Transportation specification packages

Specification packages are broad families of package designs developed and authorized by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for transport of certain Type B and fissile radioactive materials, with each specification containing a number of designs of various sizes. The specification package designs have remained essentially unchanged in a changing regulatory environment. Changes to package designs or authorized contents under the DOT system can be accomplished by rule making action, but there has been little updating of the designs over the years. Many of the individual package designs are no longer supported by reasonably current safety analyses. Since the publication of these specifications, there have been changes in regulatory requirements and improvements in methods of testing and analysis. Additionally, contemplated revisions to the DOT and NRC regulations to bring design requirements into accord with IAEA Safety Series No. 6, 1985 Edition would eliminate fissile classes and require resistance to a crush test for small Type B packages meeting certain criteria. The NRC has requested that the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) staff review the safety documentation of the specification packages to determine the possible need for further testing and analysis, modifications to the designs,more » and, perhaps, elimination of any designs for which there is insufficient demonstration of compliance with current and proposed requirements. This paper will present a summary of the technical data and information concerning the use of the packages that has been received to date.« less