German regulatory concept of transport package design approval for dual purpose casks during interim storage.

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection [Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS)] is the competent authority for package design approval for transport as well as the competent authority for licensing of interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel and vitrified high level radioactive waste in Germany. The concept of interim storage in Germany is based on dry transport and storage casks (dual purpose casks), which are placed in storage facilities. For such a cask, a package design approval according to applicable national transport regulations consistent with International Atomic Energy Agency Transport Regulations is necessary to transport the cask to the interim storage facility, to be able to ship the cask if necessary during the interim storage period and finally to transport it to the final destination when the interim storage period is finished. Such a package design approval is also a key element for the safety demonstration of the interim storage facility. To take all these aspects into account, a regulatory concept has been developed in Germany, which will be described. It considers basically three phases: first issuance of the package design approval certificate as a prerequisite for transport and for the interim storage licence, review and renewal of the package design approval certificate during interim storage period and use of the package design approval certificate at the end of the interim storage period including actions to be taken before the shipment from the facility to the final destination. Based on practical experience with this concept, some basic conclusions are derived for package designs subject to interim storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]