Abstract: A side loading system and method for the underground disposal of radioactive waste is disclosed herein. The vault system is formed from at least one vault cell that comprises a floor slab disposed within a recess in the earth, a ceiling slab disposed over the floor slab, an earth cap disposed over the ceiling slab and an elongated wall assembly disposed around the periphery of the floor slab for supporting the ceiling slab and earth cap. The elongated wall assembly is preferably four times as long as it is wide, and includes a back wall and a front wall, the front wall having an accessway for the side loading of radioactive waste. Radioactive waste is loaded in sequential rows starting from the back wall of the vault cell.

Abstract: An improved, lightweight cask assembly is disclosed herein. The cask assembly generally comprises at least two, cylindrically shaped and concentrically disposed structural walls formed from a titanium alloy and a shielding wall disposed within and supported by the titanium structural walls. Both the inner and outer walls are formed from a high-strength titanium alloy. The use of such an alloy advantageously allows the thickness of the inner wall to be minimized, thereby optimizing the shielding geometry of the shielding wall and minimizing the weight of the amount of shielding material used in the cask. The use of such an alloy in the outer structural wall also minimizes the weight of the outer wall thereby contributing to the weight reduction of the cask assembly as a whole. The upper and lower edges of the inner and outer structural walls are bound together by a reinforcing ring and an end plate assembly likewise formed from a titanium alloy.

Abstract: A pipe support for high temperature, thin-walled vertical piping runs used in a nuclear system. A cylindrical pipe transition member, having the same inside diameter as the thin-walled piping, replaces a portion of the piping where support is desired. The outside diameter of the pipe transition member varies axially along its vertical dimension. For a section of the axial length adjacent the upper and lower terminations of the pipe transition member, the outside diameter is the same as the outside diameter of the thin-walled piping to which it is affixed. Intermediate of the termination sections, the outside diameter increases from the top of the member to the bottom. Adjacent the lower termination section, the diameter abruptly becomes the same as the piping. Thus, the cylindrical transition member is formed to have a generally triangular shaped cross-section along the axial dimension. Load-bearing insulation is installed next to the periphery of the member and is kept in place by an outer ring clamp.