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<br /> FEH _3'97 16:37 FR NORDION INTERNATIONRL 13 592 0440 TO 12016871476 P.10/19 <br /> TRANSPORT OF COBALS-b0 INDUSTRIAL RADII?TION SOURCES <br /> PETER KIJNSTADT, P.Eng_ <br /> October 1989 <br /> Nordion Intesnational Inc. <br /> P.O. Box 13500, 447 liareh Road <br /> Kanata, Ontario. Cansda, K21C LR8 <br /> ABSTRACT <br /> This paper will deal with salary aspects o! ehe handling of Cobalt-60, the <br /> moat widely used industrial radio-isotope. Cobalt-60 is a man-made <br /> radioisotope of Cobalt-59, a naturally occurring eon radioactive element, <br /> chat is made to order for radiation therapy and a vide range of industrial <br /> processing applications including aterilizacion of medical disposables, <br /> food irradiation, etc_ <br /> KEY STORDS <br /> Cobalt-60; Safety; Shipping; Containers; Nordion International Inc.; <br /> Radiation Sources; <br /> INTROD[TCTION <br /> Tha shipaent of a Cobalt-60 source is ehe last step in a long and deeailed <br /> manufacturing and quality control procnss, including many stages such as: <br /> 1. Cobalt specification and preparation <br /> 2_ Encapsulation design and msM~facture <br /> 3. Reactor target dasiga and manufacture <br /> 4. Shipping container design and manufacture <br /> 5. Final source design and maaufaetuze <br /> the safe transport of Cobalt-60 industrial radiation sources is essential <br /> to the viability of gamma processing technology world-vide. Producers and <br /> assts of sources are stringently regulated. Transportation packages axe <br /> tasted. Primary producers such as Nordion Internatioml Inc. cooperate <br /> fully with regulaeory agencies to improve evaluation eeehnology co keep <br /> pace with changing raquizemeats. <br /> COBALT-60 PRODUCTION AND ENCAPSULATION <br /> A typical eobale capsule is shown on Figure 1. 99.92 pure Cobalt-59 slugs <br /> era nickel placed and welded into a Zirconium alloy (Zircalloy) 'Inner <br /> Capsule'. Inner Capsules are assembled Lnto Beactor Target Bundles and <br /> placed into reactors for activation (comrersion of Co-59 to Co-60). After <br /> activation, target bundles, now containing approximately 90Z Cobale-59 and <br /> - L - <br /> <br />