NAC transport package receives NRC certification

The company said the new certificate of compliance (CoC) for the Type B packaging was approved less than one year after its application was initially submitted to the NRC—a record for completing the agency’s approval process for such a complex package. NAC submitted its application to the NRC in May 2024, and the CoC (USA/9403/B(U)-96) was approved under the NRC’s 10 CFR Part 71 regulations, effective April 30.

“The U.S. NRC has frequently emphasized that a high-quality license submittal and timely preapplication meetings are the key to efficient licensing actions,” said Kent Cole, NAC president and CEO. “That has certainly been true for the NAC Volunteer packaging. Preapplication discussions with the NRC review staff helped NAC identify and resolve potential areas of risk early in the development process, avoiding issues that could prolong review of the packaging design.”

The package: The Volunteer packaging system was developed for the transport of tritium-producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs), vitrified high-level radioactive waste, and irradiated hardware. It offers long, standard, and short configurations. Each configuration accommodates various contents: TPBAR contents in the standard configuration; vitrified HLW in long-, standard-, or short-length casks; and irradiated hardware in the long- or short-length casks.

The primary mode of transportation for the Volunteer is by road, although rail or sea transport modes are also allowed. The maximum weight of the contents and internal support structures is 11,500 pounds for all cask configurations. The maximum gross weight of the package for the long, standard, and short configurations is approximately 84,400 pounds, 80,500 pounds, and 64,8000 pounds, respectively.