International transport of uranium concentrates

Abstract

There has been discussion within industry for a number of years regarding standards for shipping uranium concentrates from producers (mine/mill operations) to uranium conversion facilities. Although the standard way of transporting ore concentrates is in drums (nominally 200–210 L size), the specific packing and securing methods for sea transport vary considerably. A major initiative was recently launched within the World Nuclear Transport Institute with the setting up of a task force to examine the aspects of the transport of uranium concentrates that include a marine component. These aspects were grouped into three areas of interest as follows: the drums used for packaging, the sea International Standards Organisation (ISO) containers themselves and the restraint of the drums in the ISO containers. The objective of the task force has been to explore the concept of standard good industry practices for uranium concentrates packaging and shipping in ISO containers. Based on the findings of the Task Force, the present paper shares the lessons learned. It discusses good industry practices, which can be used as a basis to establish common methodology for the transport uranium concentrates. It considers the value of adopting a common approach and in this regard, the present paper highlights the current variations in drum design and the range of difficulties this can pose. In addition, the present paper describes drum restraint systems within the container, explaining the way in which securing methods have had to change due to restrictions on the use of wood dunnage. The importance of using containers satisfying ISO 1496 standard and the Convention for Safe Containers is discussed. Based on industry experience, important operational procedures to ensure well packaged secure loads are also discussed.