{"operation":"document","citation":"06-0189","title":"Nukem Corporation — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2006-09-29","effective_on":null,"summary":"06-0189 response to Nukem Corporation concerning 173.412.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0189.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0189.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-06-0189","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2006/060189.pdf","body":"<<>>\n\nof Transportation\nU.S. Department\n400 Seventh Street, S.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nPipeline and\nAdministration\nHazardous Materials Safety\nSEP 29 2006\nMr. Stan Hodges\nNukem Corporation\nSenior Project Manager\nRef. No. 06-0189\n3800 Fernandina Road Suite 200\nColumbia, SC 29210\nDear Mr. Hodges:\nThis is in response to your August 15, 2006 letter requesting clarification regarding the\napplicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) to\nHEPA vents. Your question pertains to § 173.412(f) which requires the containment\n(3.6 psi). Specifically, you ask if a passive HEPA vent may be installed in a Type A\nsystem to retain its radioactive contents under the reduction of ambient pressure to 25 kPa\npackage to meet the pressure requirement in § 173.412(f) as long as the resultant\ncontainment system would not release any radioactivity to the environment.\nThe HMR do not prohibit the use of vents in Type A packagings containing Class 7\n(radioactive) materials. However, the packaging must be an authorized packaging for the\nClass 7 (radioactive) material under the HMR, meet the HMR design specification (if\napplicable), and comply with the general packaging requirements in Part 173, Subpart B.\nThe Type A packaging, with the vent, must meet the design and construction requirements\nin § 178.350, which also requires compliance with §§ 173.403, 173.410, 173.412,\n173.415, 173.465 and 173.466.\nI hope this information is helpful.\nTille z. Abbake\nHattie L. Mitchell, Chief\nRegulatory Review and Reinvention\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n173.412(f)\n060189\n\n<<>>\n\nMessage\nSatterthwaite\nPage 1 of 3\n§173.412\nDrakeford, Carolyn \nPackages\nFrom:\nWilliams, James \nSent:\nTuesday, August 15, 2006 3:11 PM\n06-0189\nTo:\nDrakeford, Carolyn \nSubject:\nFW: 49 CFR 173.412 (f)\nAttachments: 49 CFR 173.412(f).xls\nSecond Interpretation Request\nJim Williams\nFrom: Stan Hodges [mailto:shodges@nukem.com]\n-----Original Message-----\nSent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 8:08 AM\nTo: Williams, James \nSubject: FW: 49 CFR 173.412 (f)\nCc: Richard Byars; Nate Patterson\nDid you ever get a response to the question that I have underlined below? I suppose the question is - \"Can\nStan Hodges\n(0) 803-214-5848\nSr Project Manager\n(F) 803-214-5804\n(M) 803-318-7493\nFrom: Stan Hodges\nTo: 'James. Williams@dot.gov'\nSent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 6:21 PM\nSubject: RE: 49 CFR 173.412 (f)\npressures with various elevations and comparing these elevations with both DOT's regulation (49 CFR 173.412(f)\nAfter taking another look at it, I believe you are correct. I put together a spreadsheet comparing atmospheric\nreduction to 25 kPa) has a sounder technical argument. Take a look and see what you think from my argument on\nand IAEA paragraph 643). My recommendation is to adopt the reduction in atmospheric pressure to 60 kPa (vs. a\nthe attached spreadsheet.\nAlso, as another quick question - Is there anything in the regulations that allows you to utilize passive vents (i.e.\n8/17/2006\n\n<<>>\n\nMessage\nPage 2 of 3\nHEPA vents) in packages (i.e. Type A or IP-2 packages)? I did a quick search and could not find where this topic\nStan Hodges\n(0) 803-214-5848\nSr Project Manager\n(F) 803-214-5804\n(M) 803-318-7493 (Note - New Number)\nSent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 2:24 PM\nFrom: James. Williams@dot.gov [mailto:James.Williams@dot.gov]\nSubject: RE: 49 CFR 173.412 (f)\nTo: Stan Hodges\ninternal pressure of 11.1 psi.\nI read this as they agree with me - an ambient pressure drop from 14.7 to 3.6, which would result in an\nJim Williams\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Technology, Room 8430\nRadioactive Materials Branch, PHH-23\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n400 Seventh Street, S.W.\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nJames. Williams@dot.gov\nWashington, D.C. 20590\n(202) 366-6177\nWebsite http://hazmat.dot.gov/\nSubject: FW: 49 CFR 173.412 (f)\nJim:\nI have highlighted the document in the below e-mail message relative to where I found the notation from\ne USNRC. I will take a look at the document link that you sent to me and get back to you. I left\nRNL relative to an internal pressure of 3.6 psi. Please note that I only skimmed the letler from ORNL 1\nmessage for Fred to call me back.\nStan Hodges\n8/17/2006\n\n<<>>\n\nMessage\nPage 3 of 3\n(0) 803-214-5848\nSr Project Manager\n(F) 803-214-5804\n(M) 803-318-7493 (Note - New Number)\nSent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 12:13 PM\nFrom: Stan Hodges\nSubject: 49 CFR 173.412 (f)\nTo: Richard Byars\nRichard:\nIn a text (Document No. ORNL/NRC/LTR - 02/12 -\naddress the design condition delineated in the subject regulatory section. They note in the text: \"The most\nhttp://www.ornl.gov/~webworks/cppr/y2001/rpt/113628.pdf) prepared by ORNL for the USNRC, they\nf 11.1 psi) and a 1-ft drop of the package onto a flat horizontal surface.\nigniticant of the design conditions are the reduction of ambient pressure to 3.6 psi (i.e., internal pressure\nBased on this statement, I believe they are essentially saying that the container cannot release any\nradioactivity in a vacuum condition of 3.6 psi (equivalent to 7.33 inHg).\nlave a call into Jim Williams with the DOT (Rick Boyle is out this week) and will talk to him about th\nabout the Type B () cask shipping scenarios.\nsue and whether or not a HEPA vent would be acceptable in a Type A package. I also want to talk to h\ndelineated in a separate subsection of the regulation.\nPls note that the drop test height is dependent on the weight of the package with contents and is\nStan Hodges\n(0) 803-214-5848\nSr Project Manager\n(F) 803-214-5804\n(M) 803-318-7493 (Note - New Number)\n8/17/2006","truncated":false,"body_characters":5619}