Transport of large components in Germany – some experiences and regulatory aspects

AbstractAfter decommissioning of nuclear facilities, it is very often necessary to transport large components such as steam generators or reactor pressure vessels in public areas. In Germany, such shipments were carried out in 2007 and 2008 as follows: steam generators from the nuclear power plant (NPP) in Stade to Studsvik/Sweden by road and sea, reactor pressure vessel from the NPP in Rheinsberg to the interim storage facility near Greifswald by railway and steam generators from the NPP in Obrigheim to Greifswald, as well by road and inland waterway. The paper describes the experiences with these shipments, including radiation dose assessments to transport workers and the main aspects of the applied regulatory procedure by special arrangement, for which the Federal Office for Radiation Protection is the competent authority in Germany. A high level of safety was achieved for all the involved modes of transport (road, rail, sea and inland waterways). Based on these experiences, some regulatory aspects are...