Uranium hexafluoride packaging tiedown systems overview at Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio. Revision 1

摘要

The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) in Piketon, Ohio, is operated by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., through the US Department of Energy-Oak Ridge Operations Office (DOE-ORO) for the US Department of Energy-Headquarters, Office of Nuclear Energy. The PORTS conducts those operations that are necessary for the production, packaging, and shipment of uranium hexafluoride (UF(sub 6)). Uranium hexafluoride enriched uranium than 1.0 wt percent (sup 235)U shall be packaged in accordance with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations of Title 49 CFR Parts 173 (Reference 1) and 178 (Reference 2), or in US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or US Department of Energy (DOE) certified package designs. Concerns have been expressed regarding the various tiedown methods and condition of the trailers being used by some shippers/carriers for international transport of the UF(sub 6) cylinders/overpacks. Because of the concerns about international shipments, the US Department of Energy-Headquarters (DOE-HQ) Office of Nuclear Energy, through DOE-HQ Transportation Management Division, requested Westinghouse Hanford Company (Westinghouse Hanford) to review UF(sub 6) packaging tiedown and shipping practices used by PORTS, and where possible and appropriate, provide recommendations for enhancing these practices. Consequently, a team of two individuals from Westinghouse Hanford visited PORTS on March 5 and 6, 1990, for the purpose of conducting this review. The paper provides a brief discussion of the review activities and a summary of the resulting findings and recommendations. A detailed reporting of the is documented in Reference 4.