| Abstrakt: |
In recent years, it has been recognized that steps, including evaluations or other actions, are needed to ensure that safety, security, and safeguards (the 3S disciplines) during the transport of nuclear material work together, and that conflicts are identified and avoided to the maximum extent possible. In the United States (US), a series of training courses on transport security for nuclear and other radioactive material has been convened at Argonne National Laboratory under the auspices of the US Department of Energy Packaging Certification Program. These courses have focused on both international and domestic US transport, and have recently included information on the interactions among transport 3S disciplines focused only on nuclear material shipments in the US In preparation for a future training course on international transport security, the assessment of the transport 3S disciplines was expanded to address the interactions of the 3S disciplines for international transport. The goal was to gain a better understanding of the synergies and conflicts, addressing multiple areas including regulatory compliance, design, operations, and economics during transport. With a better understanding, steps such as evaluations or other actions, can be taken by stakeholders to maximize 3S synergies and identify and resolve 3S conflicts. A two-phased approach was taken to expanding the international 3S assessment. First, a limited number of international reference documents were reviewed to identify a methodology for gaining the desired comprehensive understanding, which was documented in a paper presented at the Waste Management 2021 Symposia in Phoenix, Arizona. Second, a detailed assessment was undertaken with a view to providing a much more comprehensive look at the interactions, interfaces, synergies, and potential conflicts for the international transport 3S disciplines. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the second, more detailed evaluation, considering relevant International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requirements, recommendations, and guidance documents for the nuclear material transport 3S disciplines. It lists 25 3S discipline-related topics for consideration and, for each topic, looks at the potential for conflicts and synergies. Of the 25 topics, the detailed 3S assessment identified potential conflicts with 13 of them, and suggested methods for resolving those 13 conflicts are provided. The methodology framework for the overview presented in this paper is to be detailed in an Argonne National Laboratory report. The methodology framework is most effective when applied early in the planning and design phases for transporting packages of nuclear material; and can also be effectively applied when new requirements, recommendations, or guidance for safety, security, or safeguards are issued or when new technology is implemented, such as the ARG-US remote monitoring systems for tracking and monitoring nuclear and other radioactive materials in nuclear fuel cycle facilities and during transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
