WNTI SUMMER SAMM 2024

WNTI – Keeping Nuclear Moving

We drive the highest standards of safety and security in the global transport of nuclear and radioactive materials.

About Us

We collaborate with industry experts to produce up to date resources that are free to download.

Resources

Each day thousands of shipments of radioactive materials are transported around the world.

Industry

About Us

We drive the highest standards of safety and security in the global transport of nuclear and radioactive materials.

News and Events

Resources

We collaborate with industry experts to produce up to date resources that are free to download.

Industry

Each day thousands of shipments of radioactive materials are transported around the world.

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Transportation

The transport of radioactive materials has a long history spanning several decades. Over this period a stringent regulatory regime has been developed at both international and national levels.

Overview

The transport of radioactive materials has a long history spanning several decades. Over this period a stringent regulatory regime has been developed at both international and national levels. The safety record of these shipments is impressive, in over 50 years there has never been a transport incident that has caused significant radiological damage to people or the environment.

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

To sustain this important source of energy, nuclear utilities around the world depend on safe, efficient and reliable transport of the full range of nuclear fuel cycle materials.

Nuclear power currently supplies around 16% of the world's demand for electricity. The majority of these reactors are either pressurised water reactors or boiling water reactors and in both cases the primary fuel is enriched uranium oxide. The fuel core for these light water reactors typically contains many fuel assemblies consisting of sealed fuel rods, each filled with sintered uranium dioxide pellets.

Click to view - The Nuclear Fuel Cycle in detail

Front end and back end operations

Nuclear fuel cycle transports are commonly designated as either front end or back end. The front end covers all the operations from the mining of uranium to the manufacture of new fuel assemblies for loading into the reactors. The back end covers all the operations concerned with the spent fuel which leaves the reactors, i.e. the shipment of spent fuel elements from nuclear power plants to reprocessing facilities for recycling, and the subsequent transport of the products of reprocessing. Alternatively, if the once-through option is chosen, the spent fuel is transported to interim storage facilities pending its final disposal, for instance, into a deep geological repository.

Non-fuel cycle transport

Nuclear power is not the only industry which relies on the transport of radioactive materials. In fact, the vast majority of transports – around 95% – are not fuel cycle related. Radioactive materials are used extensively in medicine, agriculture, research, manufacturing, non-destructive testing and in the exploration of minerals.

All these industries are becoming increasingly global in terms both of products and services. Safe and secure national and international transport of radioactive materials by all modes of transport is essential to support them.

Front End

The front end covers all the operations from the mining of uranium to the manufacture of new fuel assemblies for loading into the reactors, i.e. the transport of uranium ore concentrates (UOC) to uranium hexafluoride conversion facilities, from conversion facilities to enrichment plants, from enrichment plants to fuel fabricators and from fuel fabricators to the various nuclear power plants.

Back End Materials

The nuclear fuel cycle can be broken down into what is generally known as the ‘front end’ and ‘back end’ operations. The front end covers the operations from the mining of uranium to the manufacture of fuel assemblies for loading into the reactors. The back end covers the operations concerned with spent fuel that leaves reactors.

Back End Transport

The transport of back end material, as with all other radioactive material transport, is governed by a stringent regulatory regime, which includes standards, codes and regulations that have been revised and updated over the past four decades. The safety measures have been developed to protect people, property and the environment against the hazards posed by the cargoes.

Non-Fuel Cycle Materials

Nuclear power is not the only industry which relies on the transport of radioactive materials. Because radiation can penetrate matter, radioactivity and radioactive materials have many uses in medicine, agriculture, industry, mining and oil exploration, and research.

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