Radioactive waste is created across the country and must be safely transported to a range of facilities for treatment, packaging, storage and disposal. Transportation of waste can occur at any stage of the lifecycle.
There are strict regulations went it comes to transportation in order to protect people and the environment.
Packaging used for transporting waste must be high integrity and demonstrably be able to withstand significant damage or impact. This minimises the risk that there is release of radioactivity if any such incident occurs. For HAW, purpose built transportation or packaging must be able to withstand much larger amounts of damage to demonstrate this.
Industrial packages (IP1, 2, 3): Used to transport either material having low activity per unit mass or non-radioactive objects having low levels of surface contamination.
Type A packages
Used for the transport of relatively small, but significant, quantities of radioactive material, where amount of radionuclides they contain is limited by IAEA regulations to ensure that the risks in the event of a release in a severe accident are very low.
Type B packages
Used for the transport of highly radioactive material that are specified with additional resistance to the release of radiation or radioactive material due to accidental damage.
Case study
Winfrith TRS Shipments
A major collaboration between Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) and Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) to safely and efficiently manage, and permanently disposed of 1068 stainless steel drums of waste and also saved 7502 kg carbon emissions, has completed earlier than expected.
The project was an accumulation of eight years’ work and has seen eleven consignments of radioactive waste, transported by rail from the NRS site at Winfrith, Dorset, to the Low-Level Waste Repository near Cumbria for final disposal.
The initiative was a cost-saving collaboration between NWS and NRS, both part of the NDA Group, which is responsible for decommissioning in the UK.
The project used innovative solutions in waste management with waste being reclassified and diverted from disposal in a geological disposal facility (GDF), saving space in the facility and taxpayer funds.
The drums which contained radioactive waste were originally awaiting transfer to the Harwell Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) facility for interim storage pending disposal in a GDF. However, due to a period of radioactive decay, they were able to be reclassified from Intermediate Level Waste to Low Level Waste.
This innovative solution resulted in the early disposal of the waste at the Repository site and significant cost savings. The drums of waste have utilised void space in one of the Repository vaults, optimising its use of the Repository, and freeing up the Winfrith facility for alternative use.
Winfrith and Harwell Head of Waste, Nuclear Restoration Services, commented:
“The retrieval operation of the drums from the store went really well. We managed to improve our timings on each retrieval, meaning that the final drum was retrieved well ahead of schedule. The shipment of the drums by rail provided significant savings to the taxpayer and also saved 7502 kg carbon emissions for each rail shipment compared to transporting these drums by road.
“This achievement takes us another step closer to completing our decommissioning mission and returning the site to heathland with public access. Many thanks to all parties involved who have made this possible, a great example of a collaborative approach.”
Head of Waste Services, Nuclear Waste Services, said:
“Seeing the final train arrive at the Repository was a proud moment and significant milestone for this successful project.
“It is the result of years of collaborative planning and preparation by Nuclear Waste Services, (formally Magnox Ltd), Nuclear Transport Services and our extensive supply chain partners involved in the delivery of this work, including Cyclife, React Engineering, PDL, Stobbarts, to mention but a few.
“Planning and preparation were key to the success of this project. NWS staff worked with NRS Winfrith Site to explore alternatives to manage the waste more effectively. This work is integral to our mission, to make the UK’s nuclear waste permanently safe, sooner.”
NTS CEO added:
“This is what the NDA group does best – working together towards a shared goal and providing the best possible efficiencies.
“We are proud to be the group’s logistics specialist and ensure the safe, secure and reliable transport of nuclear materials.”