The uranium ore slurry will be transported in specially-designed containers similar to those used during the past 10 years without incident between the McArthur River mine and the Key Lake mill. These containers withstand extreme cold and hot temperatures, fire hazards, and traffic accidents. Their wall thickness serves as a barrier to radiation exposure and protects their contents.
What makes these containers so special?
These containers consist of a vessel, a complete steel outer structure/frame, and steel cladding on the outside of that. The frame is made out of 150x150x6 HSS steel (hollow structure section). The outer cladding is a 6 mm thick steel plate. The vessel has 16mm thick walls. The 16mm walls by itself is very thick; to put it in perspective, a holding tank in a uranium mill that would hold similar slurry, would have 6mm thick walls.
The below diagram shows the ore slurry container. The “x” markings you see is an area full of insulation.
The containers are designed to meet all national and international safety criteria. They have been through many tests to ensure that they will be leak and spill proof and limit potential radiation on the outside of the containers. Some of the tests they have gone through include:
- drop tests
- stacking tests
- heat, cold, and fire resistance tests
- pressure variation tests
- vibration tests
- acceleration tests
- closing devices, valves, nuts and bolts tests
If you have any other questions about these ore slurry containers, feel free to ask us or catch us on the road for the next three weeks in the north.