{"operation":"document","citation":"06-0100","title":"Department of Energy — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2006-10-13","effective_on":null,"summary":"06-0100 response to Department of Energy concerning 173.453.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0100.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0100.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0100","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2006/060100.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\n.S. Departmen\nf Transportatio\nWashington, D.C. 20590\n400 Seventh Street, S.W.\nPipeline and\nlazardous Materials Safet\ndministratio\nOCT 13 2006\nMr. James M. Shuler\nRef. No.: 06-0100\nDepartment of Energy\nWashington, D.C. 20585\nDear Mir. Shuler:\n,in\nThis is in response to your April 20, 2006 letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nSpecifically, you request clarification of the exception in § 173.453(f) for fissile material.\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to radioactive materials.\nYou request additional clarification of a response we provided to Dennis Ashworth in a\nletter of interpretation issued on January 17, 2006 (Ref. No. 05-0254) regarding this\nQ1. How is a shipment of plutonium defined?\nshipment of a material where plutonium is the primary radionuclide present, with only\nA1. For the purposes of the exception in § 173.453(f), a \"shipment of plutonium\" is the\ntrace amounts of other radionuclides.\nQ2. How much plutonium must be present for the exception to apply?\nplutonium mass of not more than 1000 grams. The exception does not specify a\nA2. The exception in § 173.453(f) applies to packages containing, individually, a total\nminimum amount of plutonium; however, only trace amounts of other radionuclides may\nbe present to qualify for the exception.\nQ3. How much plutonium must be fissile plutonium for the exception?\nA3. None of the plutonium \"must\" be fissile, but not more than 20 percent by mass may\nconsist of plutonium-239, plutonium-241, or any combination of these.\nQ4. The January 17, 2006 letter of interpretation issued to Dennis Ashworth stated that\nthe exception in § 173.453(f) is not intended to apply to shipments of large quantities of\nquantities\"?\nuranium with some plutonium present. How much uranium is considered to be \"large\nA4. As you noted in your letter, it is not possible to have fissile plutonium without some\nfissile uranium present. The scenario you presented of 1E-06 grams of plutonium-238\nand 100 kg of uranium-235 as package contents is not the type of shipment that is\nintended to be covered by the exception. To satisfy the exception in § 173.453(f) only\n173.453 (f)\n060100\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\ntrace amounts of uranium may be present; we interpret a trace amount of uranium to be\nless than or equal to 1% of the mass of the fissile plutonium present in the package.\nQ5. How much fissile uranium may be included in a shipment to qualify for the\nexception?\nA5. An acceptable level of uranium is less than or equal to 1% of the mass of the fissile\nplutonium present in the package. See A4.\nfor the exception?\nQ6. Could 850 g of plutonium-238 and 100 g of uranium-235 in a single package qualify.\nA6. The answer is no. The exception is intended to apply to those shipments of\nplutonium that contain only trace quantities of uranium. See A4 and A5.\nNote that our January 17\" letter referenced a proposal before the International Atomic\nmass; however, the current exception in § 173.453(f) applies specifically to plutonium.\nEnergy Agency to expand the scope of the exception to permit 20% of fissile nuclides by\ncontact this office.\nI hope this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to\nSincerely,\n?\n/. Chief, Standards Development\nGale\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nRelerford\nDEPA\nDepartment of Energy\n§173.453f\nWashington, DC 20585\nFissile Materials\nAPR 2 0 2006\nExceptions\n06 - 0100\nMr. Edward T. Mazzullo, Director\nOffice of Hazardous Material Standards, PHH-10\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n400 7' Street, S.W.\nAttention: DHM-10\nWashington, D.C. 20590-0001\nThe purpose of this letter is to request an interpretation of the Department of\nTransportation (DOT) Fissile Material Exception requirements as mentioned in\nthe Title 49, Part 173.453. The relevant portions of 49 Code of Federal\nRegulations (CFR) 173.453 read as follows:\nSec. 173.453 Fissile materials--exceptions.\nFissile materials meeting the requirements of at least one of the\nparagraphs (a) through (f of this section are excepted from the\nrequirements of this subpart for fissile materials...\n/ Packages containing, individually, a total plutonium mass of not more\nthan 1000 grams, of which not more than 20 percent by mass may\nconsist of plutonium-239, plutonium-241, or any combination of these\nradionuclides.\nBecause paragraph (f) is silent on the presence of uranium, packages containing\nshipment of large and potentially unsafe quantities of uranium.\nAs an example, assume a payload contains 1E-06g of 238Pu and 100 kg of 235U.\nThis payload contains a total plutonium mass of not more than 1000 g of which\nnot more than 20 percent by mass is fissile plutonium.\nIn a letter of interpretation signed by John Gale to Dennis Ashworth, dated\nJanuary 17, 2006 (Reference 05-0254), it indicates \"this exception is intended for\nshipments of plutonium\" and \"this exception is NOT intended to allow shipments\nof large quantities of uranium with 'some' plutonium included.\"\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\n2\n1. How is a \"shipment of plutonium\" defined?\n2. How much plutonium must be present for this exception to apply?\n4. How much uranium is considered to be \"large quantities\"?\n3. How much of the plutonium must be fissile plutonium?\nBecause 239 Pu quickly decays to 235U and 24! Pu decays to 233U, it is not physically\n5. How much fissile uranium may be included in the shipment?\nA potent a incuand ency gecurs in that bender ped as fist gulpion apackage\nshipped fissile excepted.\n6. Could 850 g 238 Pu and 100 g of 23U qualify for an exception under\nparagraph (f)?\nIf you need any additional information, please contact me at (301) 903-5513 or by\n(e-mail: james.shuler@em.doe.gov).\nSincerely,\nJames M. Shuler\nManager, Packaging and Certification Program\nEnvironmental Cleanup and Acceleration\nOffice of Licensing\nOffice of Environmental Management","truncated":false,"body_characters":5916}