NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AIR TRANSPORT OF PLUTONIUM

A new package for the air transport of plutonium has been developed in response to a United States Public Law which restricts the U. S. air transport of plutonium except for small medical devices. This new package, called PAT-1 for plutonium air transportable package model 1, is the result of the NRC-sponsored (NRC = U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ) PARC (plutonium accident resistant container) project at Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque. The PAT-1 package is designed to meet or exceed new criteria specified in NUREG-0360. These include a severe test sequence of impact ( > 250 knots) on an unyielding target, crush, puncture, slash, a large JP-4 fire for 1 hour, followed by water immersion, with stringent acceptance standards on plutonium release, nuclear shielding, and nuclear criticality. The PAT-1 package design features a high energy absorption capability with high-level fire protection. It weighs approximately 227 kg (500 lb) when loaded with 2 kg Plutonium oxide and can accommodate up to 25 watts thermal energy from the plutonium load.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at SAE Meeting September 26-28, 1978.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • Andersen, J A
• Publication Date: 1978

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 12 p.
• Serial:
  • Society of Automotive Engineers Preprint
  • Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air transportation; Applications; Cargo handling; Containers; Fires; Hazardous materials; Legal factors; Legislation; Nuclear fuels; Packaging; Plutonium; Protection; Radiation hazards; Safety; Transportation
• Old TRIS Terms: Plutonium and alloys; Safe handling
• Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00190187
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Report/Paper Numbers: SAE 780870
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 11 1979 12:00AM