RE: Required documentation of test results for Type A packaging

[Wes Van Pelt <vanpelt@ios.com>]

Bruce, and all Radsafers,

I, too, was on the track of a type A container a few months ago.  I followed many leads, including a posting on Radsafe which produced many leads.  All my efforts to find a manufacturer of Type A packaging lead to only one source of metal drums (e.g., 2 to 55 gallon sizes).  This supplier presumably could supply the required testing paperwork.  (email me if you would like me to dig into my files for the name of this supplier of drums.)

My final conclusion was that _nobody_ sells a Type A box for shipping radioactive materials.

Wes Van Pelt
vanpelt@ios.com

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From: 	Bruce Pickett[SMTP:SHEA136@KGV2.bems.boeing.com]
Sent: 	Monday, October 30, 1995 2:56 PM
To: 	Multiple recipients of list
Subject: 	Required documentation of test results for Type A packaging

 From: Bruce Pickett, The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA
       shea136@kgv2.bems.boeing.com

 I apologize in advance for the length of this posting.  I am
 soliciting discussion regarding what is required by a shipper to
 document the use of a Type A package for radioactive materials
 (RAM).  At the end of this note are two sections from  the
 US Dept. of Transportation in 49 CFR:173.415 & 173.601(l).

 I have a device containing a Type A quantity of RAM that must be
 returned to the manufacturer.  The manufacturer says that the
 device itself is USDOT Specification 55 packaging that was
 recertified as Type A.  I am not shipping the device until the
 manufacturer provides me with complete documentation of the
 tests, including packaging design.  The manufacturer has sent me
 a one page sheet that only shows the package passed the water
 spray, free drop, penetration, and compression tests, but nothing
 else (e.g. no data showing that the construction methods,
 packaging design, and materials of construction).  I contend that
 this is inadequate for me to use the Type A packaging, and have
 told the manufacturer that 173.415 tells me that, as a shipper of
 RAM, I have to have complete documentation of the testing of Type
 A packaging, and 178.601(l) specifies everything that a testing
 report is to contain; 178.601(l) also states that the manufacturer
 of the packaging must provide this on request to any users of the
 packaging. The manufacturer responds that 178.601 is for non-
 bulk packaging and is not germane to transportation of RAM and
 that what they have provided is sufficient.