Development of monitoring system for land transport conditions of nuclear materials

Yamamoto, Kiyoaki; Yuasa, Wataru ; Uchida, Shinichi ; Inose, Shoichi; Fujiwara, Shigeo 

It is very important to monitor land transport conditions continually in order to implement the safe and smooth transport of nuclear materials, especially to quickly obtain the accurate visual information and carry out emergency response swiftly and properly in the event of transport accident. Plutonium Fuel Development Center of JAEA developed the system for real-time monitoring of transport conditions of nuclear materials. The location information from GPS is transmitted to ground station from transport monitoring equipment installed on vehicle of convoy via the satellite, and transmitted to the TransportControlCenter (TCC) periodically through telephone line. The location information from GPS is also directly transmitted to ground station from transport monitoring equipment by ground wave and transmitted to TCC through telephone line. In both cases, location information is shown on a monitoring panel in TCC. Image monitoring system is one for transmitting motion picture taken by cameras equipped on the roof of vehicle of convoy to TCC through ground wave and showing it on a monitoring panel in TCC. It is also possible to transmit image to TCC with this system, which is taken by the portable camera for emergency response. The camera is taken out of transport monitoring equipment, installed on the proper place, and remotely controlled from TCC. For the development of transport conditions monitoring system, following requirements were considered taking into account the use in emergency response and long-term transport, -Compactness to fit limited space on the vehicles -Applicability for conditions in vibration and temperature change anticipated in transport operation. -Long-term stability and redundancy of power supply The developed system is very useful not only for monitoring normal transport conditions but also for planning emergency response program because it can transmit accurate visual information to TCC in the event of transport accident.