Re: radioactive waste management

["Don_Jordan" <Don_Jordan@fpm.uchicago.edu>]

Hi Marty,

Type A containers are generally self-certified.  No packaging manufacturer
specificly makes a Type A container for liquids.  You will have to design
your own packaging and submit it to the required tests.  While you can do
the tests yourself, I suspect that you  would find it preferable to have a
packaging testing lab do the tests for you.  The only such company in your
area listed in the IATA guide is:

	Park City Packagings, Inc.
	480 Sniffen lane
	Stratford, CT  06497
	Tel.	303 469 8779
	Fax.	303 469 8785

The cost for the type A tests we had done at a local testing co. was $500
per package type.  An additional cost is providing 5 - 10 samples of a
completed package, most of which you will not recover.

Note that the testing lab will almost certainly not be licensed to receive
radioactive materials, so you will have to use non-radioactive contents.
We used a water solution of sodium flourescein dye.  The dye, which seems
to be non-toxic, makes it easy to spot any leaks with a sensitivity good
enough to substitute for radioactive measurements.

Since the testing lab will not be able to evaluate the radiation sheilding
performance of the package, you will have to do your own engineering
evaluation of this aspect. That is, demonstrate that any shifting of
packaging materials under the test conditions will not adversely affect the
radiation shielding performance.  

We obtained a Type A certification for a liquid packaging which consisted
of a 8 gal. steel drum outer container with a 1.5 gal. Nalgene jerrican
(2240-0015) as the inner package.  We used styrofoam insulation to cushion
the top, bottom & sides.  Although this package passed, we have not been
able to use it since the manufacturer of the steel drums inexplicably
shortened them by 1/2 inch or more, so that the inner jerrican no longer
fit.  We have since gone to a 10 gal. steel drum, but since this is a
larger size we will have to re-test.  Be sure that any steel drum you may
obtain is rated for liquids, and you won't require absorbents.  

For the nuclides we commonly encounter in our operations, the outer steel
drum itself is adequate shielding, and its performance is not be degraded
by the test conditions.

Don

Don Jordan	
The University of Chicago	
Office of Radiation Safety
Zoology Building Room 11
1101 East 57th Street
Chicago,  Illinois  60637
Tel.	773-702-6299
Fax	773-702-4008
email Don_Jordan@fpm.uchicago.edu