{"operation":"document","citation":"15-0077","title":"Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2015-10-05","effective_on":null,"summary":"15-0077 response to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory concerning 173.2a, 173.306.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-15-0077.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-15-0077.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-15-0077","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/15-0077.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\n1200 New Jersey Avenue SE\nof Transportation\nWashington. DC 20590\nPipeline and Hazardous\nAdministration\nMaterials Safety\nOCT 0 5 2015\nMr. Rod Coleman\nLawrence Livermore National Laboratory\n7000 East Avenue\nLivermore, CA 94550\nRef. No. 15-0077\nDear Mr. Coleman:\nThis responds to your April 21, 2015 email requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-185). Specifically, you ask for clarification\non the classification of the small capsules described in your request, which are each filled\nwith .075 curies (Ci) of tritium gas and present a radioactive hazard as well as a flammable\ngas hazard (hydrogen). You also request guidance on how to obtain regulatory relief in\norder to transport this material by air in the non-Department of Transportation (DOT)\nspecification packaging described in your request.\nIn your request, you indicate that the shipment of the tritium-filled capsules meets the\nrequirements of the HMR for transport as \"UN 2910, Radioactive material, excepted\npackage, limited quantity of material, Class 7.\" However, per the requirements of\n§ 173.2a, the flammable gas would be the primary hazard class. Furthermore, given that\n§ 173.306 states that \"only packages of hazardous materials authorized aboard passenger-\ncarrying aircraft may be transported as a limited quantity\" and \"UN1049, Hydrogen,\ncompressed\" is forbidden aboard passenger-carrying aircraft, your shipment cannot qualify\nfor limited quantity exceptions and as such, the non-DOT specification packaging you wish\nto use is not authorized for air transport.\nNevertheless, you state that air transport is needed to make your organization's project\nsuccessful, and you believe the small amount of tritium gas contained within the capsules\nwould not sustain a flame if an ignition source was present, as the total combustion energy if\nall the capsules were burned is only 4 joules (J). Therefore, you believe the flammable gas\nwould not pose a safety risk during transportation, even when transported in the non-DOT\nspecification packaging exhibited in your request.\nBased on the information you provided, it is the opinion of this Office that you should apply\nto PHMSA for permission to use the non-DOT specification packaging described in your\nrequest under the terms of a special permit. To apply, you must submit an application to the\nAssociate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety in conformance with the\nrequirements prescribed in 49 CFR Part 107, Subpart B. In your application, you must\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nprovide justification that the packaging design you are considering achieves a level of safety\nthat is equal to or greater than that required under the HMR. You may obtain information\non the special permit application process from our website at\nhttp://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/regs/sp-a, or by calling PHMSA's Approvals and Permits\nDivision at (202) 366-4511.\nI hope this answers your inquiry. If you need additional assistance, please contact this\nOffice at 202-366-8553.\nSincerely,\nAsh ple\nActing Chief, Standards Development Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nBoothe\n§173.22 Suppers Rep.\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\n§173.115 Class 2 Duresan\nFrom:\n15-0077\nSent:\nGeller, Shelby CTR (PHMSA)\nTo:\nTuesday, April 21, 2015 3:44 PM\nSubject:\nHazmat Interps\nFW: Request for interpretation or guidance on Tritium Shipment\nAttachments:\nLLNL Tritium Shipment interpretation request.pdf\nDear Shante and Alice,\nAttached is a formal request for a letter of interpretation. Mr. Coleman spoke with Jordan Rivera, with guidance from\nVictoria Lehman.\nThanks,\nShelby\nFrom: Coleman, Rod [mailto:coleman6@lInl.gov]\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nSent: Friday, April 17, 2015 1:52 PM\nCc: Williams, James (PHMSA)\nSubject: Request for interpretation or guidance on Tritium Shipment\nOffice of Hazardous Material Safety,\nAttached is a description of a proposed shipment from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I am asking for\ninterpretation or guidance on the flammable gas classification on capsules filled with a small amount of tritium gas.\nPlease let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this request.\nThank you,\nRod Coleman\n925-424-4198\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nTo:\nOffice of Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nOffice of Hazardous Material Safety\nFrom:\nLawrence Livermore National Laboratory\nRod Coleman\n7000 East Ave\ncoleman6@linl.gov\nLivermore, CA 94550\nSubject: Guidance and Interpretation on Flammable Gas Classification of Capsules filled with Tritium Gas\nLLL will fill small glass and plastic capsules with tritium gas according to parameters listed in Table 1\nbelow. The capsules are filled with tritium gas at a pressure up to 15 atmospheres (220 PSIA) and are no\nlarger than 1.6 mm OD (Figure 1). We need to ship up to 10 capsules in one package to Rochester, NY by\nair freight. Each capsule contains up to .075 Ci of tritium gas. Each capsule will be individually captured\nin a stainless steel fixture and the 10 fixtures will be packed in a transportation vessel which is a non-\nDOT specification cylinder (Figure 2). The transportation vessel will be backfilled with argon at one\natmosphere and capped prior to shipment. To make this project successful the material needs to arrive\nat the destination within one week after filling and requires air transport.\nTritium gas is a radioactive material with a flammable gas subsidiary risk hazard (hydrogen).\nThe shipment of these tritium filled capsules meet the requirements to ship as UN2910, Radioactive\nmaterial, excepted package, limited quantity of material, class 7, however, the flammable gas would be\nthe primary hazard class and is presenting a challenge for air transport in a non-DOT specification\ncylinder. Because of the small capsule volume, the pressure rise would be 2.2 psi if all 10 capsules were\nto break inside the 2 co transportation vessel.\ncubio centimeter\npounds /square inch\nBased on the size of the capsules and the amount of tritium gas present, LLL believes this small volume\nof tritium gas would not sustain a flame if ignition source was present and therefore the flammable gas\ndoes not pose a safety concern during transportation. The total combustion energy if all capsules\nburned is only 4 joules.\nLLL is requesting an interpretation on the flammable gas classification based on amount of gas present\nin the capsules or guidance on obtaining relief to transport this material by air in the configuration\ndescribed above.\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\nCapsule diameter, od\n1.6|\nCapsule thickness\nCapsule radius, id\n0.797\nmm\nmm\nCapsule gas volume\n# of capsules in single shipment\n3\n10\ncapsules\nmicrons\nComposition\n0.0021\nMax pressure, atmospheres\n100%\nMax pressure, PSIA\n220.5\n15\ntritium\nPSIA\natm\nCapsule gas volume at Standard Temperature & Pressure (STP)\nTotal volume of all gas capsules in single shipment at STP\n0.032\n0.318\ncC\nCC\nActivity of tritium\n2.4\nActivity per capsule\nTotal activity of all capsules\n753\n75\nmci/capsule\nCi/cc\nmCi\nProposed shipping vessel volume\n% T gas volume/argon volume\n2\nPressure if all capsules break\n15.9%\ncc\nPressure rise\n16.9\nPSIA\n2.2\nPSIG\nHeat of enthalpy of hydrogen combustion\nHeat of combustion of capsules\nTotal moles of tritium gas in shipment\n0.0000130\n286\nkJ/mole\n3.72\njoules\nmoles\nTable 1. Parameters used to evaluate shipment of 10 tritium filled capsules.\n\n<<<PAGE 6>>>\n\nFigure 1: Photo of single 1.6 mm capsule on penny.\n\n<<<PAGE 7>>>\n\nSS-4Y-TW-SC11\nFART NUMBER\nCOMMENTS\nInciduel Egglie\nIss\nS.V-S-VCR-39-8TB2\nSS-S-VCR-1\n-50 In\nDETAIL D\nSCALE 4\n83124\n1/10/2013\n-SECTION A-A\nSCALE 1.7\nSCALE\nU\nPlastic Shell Fill Vessel Short 0.s\nSHEET 1 CE 1\nFigure 2. Drawing of proposed transportation vessel for ten, tritium-filled capsules. The vessel is based\non Swagelok valve components.","truncated":false,"body_characters":7782}