Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
7/3/2014
Waste Control Specialists received its first shipment this week using its new Type-B shipping container. WCS contracted with Robatel Technologies to provide three Type B casks capable of shipping Class B and C low-level radioactive waste. The first of the three casks was delivered by Robatel in January, while the other two are expected to be delivered sometime in the coming months. The new casks fill a glaring industry need as only four casks are currently in rotation to ship Class B and C low-level waste, and no new casks have been designed and built in the last 30 years. “WCS did receive its first waste shipment in the new transportation cask this week,” WCS President Rod Baltzer said. “I am pleased to report that the RT 100 performed flawlessly in its maiden voyage. The waste has been successfully offloaded and disposed of in the Compact facility at WCS. We are looking forward to many more trips just like it.” The waste originated at Exelon’s Peach Bottom Station. WCS declined to comment on the origin of the shipment, though.
For Robatel, the performance of the cask is the first step towards the design becoming an industry standard. The company received a Certificate of Compliance from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission back in March that enabled its Type-B shipping cask design to begin transporting waste. At the time, Robatel President Teo Grochowski celebrated the certificate as validation towards showing Robatel “as a company that can deliver.” Grochowski said this week about the cask’s inaugural shipment, “Robatel Technologies, LLC is excited that its RT-100 has demonstrated itself as the nuclear industry’s newest radioactive waste cask having successfully completed its first transport. We look forward to the RT-100 becoming the new industry standard for waste shipments.”
