DN 30
DN30
The transportation of enriched uranium hexafluoride (UF6) is essential for the nuclear fuel cycle.
The 30B cylinders used worldwide for this purpose are loaded during transportation outside nuclear facilities in so-called overpacks, which offer protection against mechanical and thermal impacts due to possible accidents during transportation.
The DN30 is a further technical development of the overpacks that are used at the moment, which have already been in use for several decades.
In addition to improved handling and increased safety, the DN30 is also particularly suitable for the transportation of UF6 from reprocessing.
The development of the DN30 began back in 2008.
In the course of the approval procedure, the safety of the design was proven not only by elaborate computational analyses but also by experimental drop and fire tests with scale 1 prototypes.
Numerous patents protect the design of the type AF, IF or B(U)F transportation casks, which were approved by the French authority ASN as of December 2018.
A US certificate of compliance of the NRC is also available since July 2019 allowing US domestic transportation of UF6.
The new DN30 overpack is thus a technically improved alternative to existing concepts and will become a main component of worldwide UF6 transportation in the next few years.
The new DN30 overpack is thus a technically improved alternative to existing concepts and will become a main component of worldwide UF6 transportation in the next few years.
Validations of the French original certificate are already available for several countries, validation procedures in other countries are short before completion. Manufacturing of several hundred series packagings has started and the first units were delivered to the customer in September 2019.