FR2884347A1 - Container for protecting radioactive products in transit has confinement chamber inside protective packaging with foam layer and steel walls - Google Patents

Abstract

The transport container consists of an inner confinement chamber (25) for radioactive products from industrial or military sites and outer protective packaging (27) including thermal and/or mechanical protection inside walls (33, 34), especially of steel. The confinement chamber can be in the form of two assembled half-shells (6, 19) of high-performance concrete.

Description

PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR THE

TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE PRODUCTS

  The present invention relates to a protection device for the transport of radioactive products.

  Radioactive products from power stations or other industrial and military operations are routinely packaged and stored in a container or containment system that does not necessarily provide the level of protection required by the legislation for road transport.

  By way of example, to date no suitable transport devices exist for CI or C4PG type CI concrete shells and as shown in section in FIGS. 1 and 2 attached and described in a more detailed manner. detailed below.

  The protective devices of a containment of radioactive products, when they are necessary, are specific to each need and, to date, there are no easily manipulable transport devices, in particular using a lifting device, removable and adaptable to any type of radioactive products stored in containers in any form possible.

  The present invention proposes to solve the problem of the specificity of the protection device by means of a modular protection device for a container of radioactive products in such a way that a secure transport, for example of concrete shells, can and meet the requirements of the 1996 IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material.

  The invention relates to a protection device for the transport of products in the general form of a container, characterized in that it comprises a containment of radioactive products s and a protective packaging of said containment enclosure , the protective packaging having thermal and / or mechanical protection means, advantageously made of phenolic foam and a variable internal volume using spacers, advantageously made of foam.

  In order to facilitate the setting up and adaptation of the radioactive products in the containment enclosure, it consists of two half-shells in which means for wedging the radioactive products in the form of spacers are suitable for being inserted.

  In order to allow the transport of any type of enclosure of any possible size, the containment enclosure is adapted to be inserted in wedging means in the internal volume of the protective packaging in the form of a frame .

  Advantageously, the protective packaging consists of a protective housing having a set of walls between which are placed the mechanical and / or thermal protection means.

  In order to allow easy transport and handling, the protective packaging consists of a reinforcement, advantageously of ISO standard, and the protective device is in the general form of a container, advantageously of ISO, parallelepipedal standard with hooking means in the form of hooking wedges.

  More specifically, the hooking corners consist of three walls perpendicular to each other and with an orifice on each of the walls.

  The present invention is now described by way of purely illustrative and non-limiting examples of the scope of the invention, and from the attached illustrations in which: FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a hull concrete type io C1 PG; Figure 2 shows a sectional view of a C4PG type concrete shell; Figures 3 to 6 show the first four steps of loading a container of radioactive products, such as a concrete shell, to form a containment vessel; Figure 7 shows a front view of the containment; FIG. 8 represents a view of the protection device integrating the confinement enclosure; Figure 9 is a perspective view of the attachment wedges of the guard; Figure 10 shows another sectional view of the protective device and the containment; Figure 11 shows a front view of the protection device for the transport of radioactive products; FIG. 12 represents a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the confinement enclosure associated with setting means; FIG. 13 represents a perspective view of the step of associating the containment enclosure with the wedging means in a half-shell constituting a protection device according to a second embodiment; FIG. 14 represents a perspective view of the step of forming the protection device on the setting means and the confinement enclosure, and FIG. 15 is a perspective view, partially in section, of an embodiment. alternative of the protective device.

  FIG. 1 represents a sectional view of a type CI concrete shell PG, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, and FIG. 2 represents a sectional view of a concrete shell of the C4PG type, designated in general by reference number 2.

  More specifically, the shells (1, 2) are made in the form of a high performance concrete cylindrical enclosure 3 in which the radioactive waste is blocked in mortar 4, these radioactive waste being contained in a basket 5 -self stuck in the mortar 4.

  The type PG and C4PG concrete shells (1, 2) are well known to those skilled in the art and are generally cylindrical, the main difference between these two types of shells being that the diameter of a shell concrete type C1 PG is larger than the diameter of a concrete shell type C4PG.

  FIG. 3 represents a front view of the first step of forming a confinement chamber capable of containing a radioactive product container, and for example a concrete shell of the Cl PG or C4PG type (1, 2), it being understood that the present invention is hereinafter described for the sake of simplicity for a concrete shell, but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art to adapt the device according to the invention for the transport of other types of container of radioactive products, having any size and volume possible.

  More specifically, Figures 3 to 6 show the loading steps in a containment of a container of radioactive product, such as a concrete shell 1 type C4PG.

  It is thus represented in FIG. 3 a first lower half-shell 6 of generally cylindrical shape resting on the ground 7.

  The lower half-shell 6 is made of steel and is advantageously able to contain a radioactive product container, for example a concrete shell type CI PG 1.

  However, and as shown in FIG. 3, since the dimensions, the shape and the volume of a radioactive product container are variable from one container to another, and in order to compensate for any differences in volumes or dimensions. of containers while using the same type of half-shell 6, it is intended to insert a spacer 8, in the lower half-shell 6, this spacer 8 being of shape and dimension such that it is able to contain and wedge a radioactive product container of smaller size and volume than the complementary shape container to the lower half shell 6.

  Indeed, it is not necessary to insert a lower spacer 8 into the lower half-shell 6 when the lower half-shell 6 is intended for the transport of a container of radioactive products said standard, for example a concrete shell 1 of Cl PG type. s

  The bottom spacer 8 thus aims to wedge the container of radioactive products in the lower half-shell 6 and thus to adjust the volume of the radioactive product containers to the inner volume of the lower half-shell 6.

  Advantageously and by way of example, the lower spacer 8 is made of steel and is in the form of a half-shell.

  It is understood that it is within the skills of those skilled in the art to adapt the dimensions and inner shapes of the lower half-shell 6 to the container of radioactive product to be transported and to adapt the dimensions of the the lower spacer 8 according to the dimensions of the lower half-shell 6 and the product container is radioactive to be transported.

  In order to facilitate the insertion of the lower spacer 8 into the lower half-shell 6, the upper flange 8a of the lower spacer 8 is provided with hooking means 9 in the form of rings 10.

  Advantageously, the rings 10 are able to cooperate with slings 11, of a type known per se, and allow, with the aid of a lifting device (not shown in the figures but of a type known per se), to lift the lower spacer 8.

  In addition, the rings 10 are able to be screwed into threaded metal inserts (not shown in the figures but of known type) included in the upper flange 8a of the lower spacer 8, so that the rings 10 are removable.

  FIG. 4 represents a front view of the step of inserting a radioactive product container, such as a concrete shell, into the lower half-cup 6, with or without its bottom spacer 8.

  In general, the concrete shells (1, 2) of the type PG PG and C4PG have on their outer periphery a circular groove 12 in which is capable of cooperating and hooking gripping and lifting means 13 in the form general of a clamp 14.

  The same loading step is carried out with any type of container of radioactive products, it being understood that the only difference relates to the presence or absence in the lower half-shell 6 of a lower spacer 8 depending on the dimensions of the container. radioactive products (the lower spacer 8 is not visible in the front view is of Figure 4 because it is inserted entirely in the lower half-shell 6).

  FIG. 5 represents a front view of the covering step of the radioactive product container, such as a C4PG type concrete shell 2, with a second upper spacer 15.

  This recovery step is only necessary when the dimensions of the container of radioactive products, for example a concrete shell, are not complementary to the dimensions of the upper half-shell 19.

  The second upper spacer 15 is also advantageously made of steel, is in the form of a half-shell, is of complementary shape to, and adapted to cooperate with, the container of radioactive products of complementary shape to the lower spacer 8 such as a concrete shell 2 of type C4PG.

  In order to allow the incorporation of the upper spacer 15 in the container of radioactive products, such as a concrete shell 2 of the C4PG type, there is provided on the upper part 15a of the upper spacer 15 hanging 16 in the form of rings 17.

  Advantageously, the rings 17 are able to cooperate with slings 18, of a type known per se, and allow, by means of a lifting device, not shown in the figures but of a type known per se, to lift the upper spacer 15.

  In addition, the rings 17 are able to be screwed into threaded metal inserts (not shown in the figures but of a type known per se) present on the upper part 15a of the upper spacer 15, in such a way that the rings 17 can be dismantled.

  FIG. 6 shows a front view of the insertion of an upper half-shell 19 in the upper spacer 15 (represented by the dashed lines in FIG. 6) in the case of the confinement of a container of radioactive product of complementary shape at the lower spacer 8, for example a concrete shell 2 of the C4PG type.

  Advantageously, the upper half-shell 19 is made of steel and is of complementary shape to the so-called standard radioactive material container, for example a shell 1 of the C1PG type, which is itself of complementary shape to the lower half-shell 6.

  However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art to adapt the dimensions and the internal volume of the upper half-shell 19 according to the size and volume of the radioactive product container to be transported; for example a C1PG shell 1, and consequently to adapt the dimensions of the upper spacer 15 according to the dimensions of the upper shell half-shell 19 and the container of radioactive products to be transported, for example a hull 2 of type C4PG.

  In order to allow the incorporation of the upper half-shell 19 onto the radioactive product container, for example a concrete shell 1 of the C1PG type, or on the upper spacer 15, it is provided on the upper part 19a of the upper half-shell 19 of the attachment means 20 in the form of rings 21.

  Advantageously, the rings 21 are able to cooperate with slings 22, of a type known per se, and make it possible to lift, by means of a lifting device (not shown in the figures but of a type known per se), the upper half-shell 19.

  In addition, the rings 21 are able to be screwed into threaded metal inserts (not shown in the figures but of known type) present on the upper part 19a of the upper half-shell 19, so that the rings 21 can be dismantled.

  Figure 7 shows a front view of the permanently mounted containment enclosure.

  Each lower half-shell 6 and upper 19 has a flange (6a, 19b) on its open end, each flange (6a, 19b) being able to cooperate with each other in such a way that once the upper half-shell 15 placed on the lower half-shell 6, then the two flanges (6a, 19b) form a flange 22 for sealing the two half-shells (6, 19).

  s More specifically, in order to seal the two half-cups (6, 19), the flanges (6a, 19b) are interconnected by screwing means 23 in the form of a plurality of screws 24 passing through the two flanges (6a, 19b).

  Once the two flanges (6a, 19b) are interconnected, a containment chamber 25 of a container of radioactive products of any possible size is thus created.

  To ensure sealing between the half-shells (6, 19), it is expected to have at least one seal, preferably EPDM type and 8 mm in diameter, between the two flanges (6a, 19b).

  In addition, in order to carry out a leakage control of the containment enclosure 25, there is provided on the flange 22 an orifice provided with a removable cap 20, both of a type known per se.

  The confinement enclosure 25 is then raised using slings 22, and a lifting device of known type, to be inserted into protection means 26 of the confinement enclosure 25.

  FIG. 8 represents a sectional view of the device according to the invention comprising the confinement enclosure 25 and an over-protective package 27 of the enclosure 25.

  Indeed, the protection means 26 are in the form of a hollow overprotection packaging 27 able to contain the confinement enclosure 25.

  FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the attachment or securing wedges arranged at the various corners of the protective device, FIG. 10 a sectional view of the over-protective packaging 27 and FIG. 11 a front view of the protective device 27. over-protective packaging.

  More specifically, and from FIGS. 8 and 10, it can be seen that the protective packaging 27 has an armature 28 composed of a set of tubes 29, advantageously made of steel, interconnected so as to form a frame of parallelepipedal general shape and the same dimensions as a standard ISO standard container of a type known per se.

  Thus, the protection device according to the invention, in the general form of a parallelepiped container, and more precisely the frame 28, advantageously has the dimensions of a standard ISO standard container, for example ISO 5 or 10 feet.

  Due to the standard dimensions of the armature 28, it is advantageously intended for the handling and stowage of the over-protective packaging 27 and consequently of the confinement enclosure 25, the attachment or the securing the protection device using the hooking wedges as shown in Figure 9.

  Indeed, the tubes 29 are made of steel and are interconnected by four lower corners 30 and four upper corners 31.

  Alternatively, the protective packaging 27 has no reinforcement 28.

  In this case, the lower and upper corners 31 are directly fixed on the over-protective packaging 27 and the over-protective packaging 27 has standard dimensions of an ISO standard container, for example 5 or 10 feet.

  In the case where the dimensions of the over-protective packaging 27 are very close to those of an ISO container of known type, the upper and lower corners (30, 31) are arranged directly on the over-protective packaging. 27.

  More precisely, the four lower and upper corners 31 1s are ISO corners, of the ISO 1496 standard, of a type known per se and as represented in FIG. 9.

  FIG. 9 represents one of the four upper corners 31, it being understood that the lower corners 30 are identical to the upper corners 31.

  The wedges (30, 31) consist of three walls (30a, 30b, 30c) each having an orifice constituting attachment means for a lifting device of a type known per se.

  More precisely, the wedges (30, 31) have a horizontal wall (30a) on which two vertical lateral walls (30b, 30c) are supported perpendicularly at two consecutive edges of the horizontal wall 30a.

  Inside the frame 28 is incorporated a protective housing 32 for the containment enclosure 25, this protective housing 32 is advantageously in the form of a parallelepiped.

  The over-protective packaging 27 therefore consists of an armature 28 and a protective housing 32.

  The protective housing 32 consists of an outer wall 33, an intermediate wall 34 and an inner wall 35.

  Advantageously, the outer wall 33 is made of steel, advantageously 4 mm thick, the intermediate wall is an anti-punching shielding sheet, of a type known per se, for example steel of the type Mars 240 with a thickness of 12 mm. and the inner wall 35 made of steel cladding plates, advantageously of thickness 4 mm.

  In order to thermally protect the protective housing 32, it is provided to fill the space between the outer wall 33 and the intermediate wall 34 with mechanical and / or thermal protection means 36.

  Advantageously, the mechanical and / or thermal protection means 36 are in the form of phenolic foam 37.

  Alternatively, the outer wall 33 and the intermediate wall 34 are combined into a single wall.

  Similarly, in order to thermally and mechanically protect the confinement chamber 25 and to wedge it inside the protective housing 32, provision is also made to fill all or part of the space between the intermediate wall 34 and the internal wall 35 with mechanical and / or thermal protection means 38.

  Advantageously, the mechanical and / or thermal protection means 38 are in the form of phenolic foam 39.

  Suitably, the space between the intermediate wall 34 and the inner wall 35 is made from a set of phenolic foam wedges.

  In this way, it is possible to best adapt the interior space of the protective housing 32 for the setting of the containment enclosure 25.

  More specifically, and by way of example, the phenolic foam 37 included between the outer wall 33 and the intermediate wall 34 is of a type known per se and advantageously of density 0.375 and the phenolic foam 39 between the intermediate wall 34 and the wall internal 35 is of a type known per se and advantageously of density 0.2.

  On the top of the protective housing 32, there is provided an orifice 40 of complementary shape to a protective cover 41.

  The cover 41 has the same walls as the protective housing 32, namely an external wall 33 made of steel, advantageously 4 mm thick, an intermediate wall made of an anti-punching shielding sheet, of a type known per se, for example made of Mars type steel 240 with a thickness of 12 mm, and an inner wall 35 of steel cladding plates, advantageously of thickness 4 mm. It is also intended to fill the space between the outer wall 33 and the intermediate wall. 34 of the cover 41 with mechanical and / or thermal protection means 36 advantageously in the form of phenolic foam 37, preferably of density 0.35.

  Similarly, it is intended to fill the space between the intermediate wall 34 and the inner wall 35 of the cover 41 with mechanical and / or thermal protection means 38, advantageously in the form of phenolic foam 39, preferably of density 0.2 .

  As shown in FIG. 11, threaded metal inserts (not shown in the figure but of known type) are provided on the cover 41, in which rings 42 are reversibly screwable, slings 43 being adapted to hook with the rings 42 so as to lift and move the frame 28 and the protection means 26.

  Moreover, in order to close the cover 41 on the protective packaging 27, a plurality of screws 44 is screwed onto the top of the cover 41, the screws 44 being advantageously made of steel.

  Figures 12 to 15 show perspective views of a second embodiment of a device for transporting a radioactive waste container and in any possible size.

  Figure 12 shows more precisely a containment chamber 25 in the form of a cylindrical barrel and containing any type of radioactive products.

  In order to allow the confinement chamber 25 to remain in the protective packaging 27, wedging means 45 are provided in the form of a frame, in particular a metal frame, in the form of a set parallelepiped and advantageously formed from tubular elements ,.

  In addition, in order to allow a better wedging of the containment enclosure 25 in the frame 45, cushioning foam, of a type known per se, can be added and integrated into the frame, especially in the corners of the frame.

  The wedging means 45 have an opening 46 into which the confinement enclosure 25 can be inserted and wedged.

  FIG. 13 represents a perspective view of the step of associating the confinement enclosure 25 with the wedging means 45 in a half-shell constituting the protection device according to an alternative embodiment.

  More specifically, the protective packaging 27 is composed of a lower half-shell 27a and an upper half-shell 27b, the half-shells (27a, 27b) being able to be connected to each other. and fastened together by means of fixing means of known type, for example screwing means.

  FIG. 14 represents a perspective view of the step of forming the protection device on the wedging means 45 and the confinement enclosure 25.

  The volume of the wedging means 45 is advantageously complementary to the internal volume of the half-shells of the protective packaging 27 thus enabling insertion and maintenance of the wedging means 45 in the protective packaging 27.

  It is within the skill of those skilled in the art to adapt the dimensions of the wedging means 45 according to the size of the protective packaging 27.

  The protective packaging 27 thus allows the transport of any type of containment 25 containing any type of radioactive products in the form of a container or not and in any size, volume or size.

  The containment chamber 25 may therefore be of parallelepipedal shape or the like.

  The wedging means 45 may also be advantageously made to allow the maintenance of several containment enclosures 25, either identical volumes or different volumes.

  It can be seen in FIG. 15 that the outer wall 33 and the intermediate wall 34 of the over-protective packaging 27 are combined into a single wall and that the over-protective packaging 27 has only an inner wall 35 and a wall external 33 between which thermal and / or mechanical protection means 38, for example phenolic foam are provided.

  In addition, it may be provided to add foam pads, of known type per se, for example phenolic foam, on the inner wall 35 of the protective packaging 27 for wedging the frame and / or the confinement chamber 25 and thus forming means for wedging the wedging means 45 of the confinement enclosure 25.

  These foam wedges thus also allow the formation of thermal and / or mechanical protection means.

  Advantageously, in order to allow the transhipment of the protection device in the automatic, semiautomatic or conventional lo systems, the protection device according to the invention is a container conforming to the NF H 90-002 standard as well as to the standards relating to each type of container.

  Similarly, in order to allow exchanges between the various possible transport means, the hooking wedges (30, 31) of the protection device also satisfy the NF ISO 668 standard.

Claims (10)

  1. Protective device for the transport of products in the general form of a container, characterized in that it comprises a containment chamber (25) of radioactive products and a protective packaging (27) of said enclosure confinement (25).   2. Protective device according to claim 1, characterized in that said protective packaging (27) has thermal and / or mechanical protection means (38), advantageously made of phenolic foam.   3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said protective packaging (27) has a variable internal volume with shims, preferably made of foam.   4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said containment enclosure (25) consists of two half-shafts (6, 19).   5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that means for wedging the radioactive products in the form of spacers (8, 15) are adapted to be inserted into said two half-shells (6, 19).   6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said confinement enclosure (25) is adapted to be inserted in means of wedging (45) of the enclosure (25) in the internal volume of the package protection (27).   7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that said wedging means (45) of the containment enclosure (25) in the internal volume of the protective packaging (27) are in the form of a frame .   8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said protective packaging (27) consists of a protective housing (32) having a set of walls (33, 34, 35) between which are placed said mechanical and / or thermal protection means (36, 38).   9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said protective packaging (27) consists of a frame (28), preferably of ISO standard.   10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is in the general form of a container, preferably ISO standard, parallelepiped with hooking means in the form of wedges (30). , 31).