The Radiological Impacts of ICRP Publication 103 on the Transport Casks for Radioactive Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel

This study investigates the potential impact of adopting ICRP Publication 103-based dosimetric data on radiological evaluations for transport casks containing radioactive materials and spent nuclear fuel. Current assessments rely on ICRP Publication 60 and its associated conversion coefficients and regulatory limits; however, ICRP Publication 103 introduces revised radiation weighting factors, updated decay data, and more realistic computational phantoms. To evaluate the implications of this transition, dose rates were calculated using both ICRP 74 and ICRP 116 conversion coefficients for representative gamma- and neutron-emitting sources, as well as for spent nuclear fuel. Additionally, the effects of updated A1 and A2 values based on ICRP Publication 103 were analyzed. The results indicate that changes in dose conversion coefficients yield negligible differences in gamma dose rates and minor variations in neutron dose rates due to compensating spectral effects. Revisions to A1 and A2 values resulted in changes of less than 10%, with minimal influence on containment evaluations for spent nuclear fuel transport casks. Overall, transitioning to the ICRP 103 framework is expected to have little impact on radiological assessment of transport cask for radioactive materials and spent nuclear fuel.