Patent Number: 062999508
Section: summary

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to a packaging for shipping containers. Specifically, the present invention relates to a product for preventing damage to an interior containment vessel from impacts to exterior shipping containers. The invention is more specifically related to a product which is fireproof, castable, crushable, and non-toxic, which provides protection for nuclear material and/or other hazardous materials inside an interior containment vessel, when the exterior container is utilized for shipping of hazardous or radioactive materials. Shipping containers with single, double, and triple containment have been utilized extensively in the nuclear materials and hazardous waste shipping industry. There continues a need for a product that provides shock and fire-resistant material for placement inside the exterior container, to protect and cradle the interior containment vessel. Ragland, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,634, describes a thin laminated metal foil and nonwoven fiber material that provides insulation for automotive systems. Barger, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,665, describes a cementitious system which utilizes low amounts of water plus calcined clay and other materials to produce high strength cement. MacNeill, U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,873, describes a high temperature resistant material containing ceramic fibers and inorganic vermiculite to withstand the high temperatures within catalytic converters. Orcutt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,046, describes an insulating composition formed from a mixture of Kaolite.TM. and amorphous quenched slag, to thermally insulate the exposed surface of molten metal in a cast vessel or furnace vessel. Householder, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,134, describes a container for nuclear materials transport that has on the interior, a pressure vessel, gamma radiation protection, insulating material, and neutron absorbing shielding in the form of beads or globules of water encapsulated in plastic. The prior art provides for materials that are heat insulating, shock protective, or radiation shielding when placed in separate layers into the interior of a nuclear materials shipping container. These and other materials, when added to containers, have shortcomings based on the inability to provide a light-weight, low-cost, heat insulating, shock protective, and radiation shielding material that can be castable inside the interior void spaces of a nuclear materials shipping container. Thus there exists room for improvement within the art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a process for making a product for encapsulating containers for shipping. It is a further object of this invention to provide a process for making a product for encapsulating containers of nuclear materials and/or hazardous materials for shipping. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process of encapsulating a container for shipping. It is an additional object of this invention to provide a product for encapsulating containers for shipping that is not flammable. It is a further additional object of this invention to provide a rigid product that provides shock and impact protection to encapsulated containers by compaction of the rigid product. It is yet a further and more particular object of this invention to provide a product that insulates an encapsulated container. It is yet an additional and more particular object of this invention to provide a product that serves as a radiation absorber to reduce the amount of radiation measured at the exterior surface of the shipping container. These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by a process for making an aggregate product, and the aggregate product composed of a rigid homogeneous aggregate material utilizing portland cement and inorganic vermiculite. The material made by the process is non-flammable, provides both thermal insulation and impact protection to any containment vessel that the material surrounds. The above and other objects of the present invention are also accomplished by a process of protecting a containment vessel inside a container for shipping nuclear materials, comprising the steps of: mixing a portland cement material with an inorganic vermiculite and water; pouring the mixture into the interior voids of an outer container for shipping; vibrating the mixture inside the outer container for shipping; curing the vibrated mixture at ambient temperature inside the exterior container for shipping; baking the cured mixture inside the exterior container for shipping at elevated temperatures; cooling the baked mixture to ambient temperature; welding a cover plate over the fill hole; and assembling the shipping package.