Letzte Änderung:
Dienstag, 29. August 2006 

The Regulatory Framework concerning the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material in the European Union

G. Schwarz¹ and K. Ridder^2
1 Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH, Cologne, Germany
² Königswinter, Germany (Formerly Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing)

Abstract

The establishment, application and maintenance of an effective system of regulatory controls and of a set of coherent and harmonized safety standards and criteria is a central tenet in a Europe with existing fiscal, physical and technical barriers being dismantled and the free movement of goods, labour, and services being facilitated while ensuring and maintaining a suitable level of safety and security in the transport of hazardous materials including radioactive substances (i.e. by land, air and sea). This paper identifies and describes the existing transport regulatory controls governing the safe transport of radioactive material in Europe in terms of the applicable legally binding and non-binding instruments and regulations. The applicable regulatory framework deemed to provide an acceptable level of safety and protection of people, property and the environment is in part hierarchically structured and comprises essentially (i) the IAEA Transport Regulations and the related Safety Guides, (ii) the Modal Regulations, (iii) a broad range of European Union Directives, Regulations and Recommendations and (iv) a suite of relevant international Conventions, Codes and Agreements. The principal safety concerns addressed at the various regulatory levels and the technical, organizational and administrative controls applied to cope with these concerns are briefly described.

The paper underlines the understanding that the transport of radioactive substances has been subject to a stringent regulatory regime for many years in Europe and worldwide and has evolved to become the most rigorously controlled among the hazardous material categories. Further development and harmonization of the relevant safety standards and criteria is a continuing challenge for the growing market of goods and services in an enlarged European Union to ensure and promote the excellent performance and safety record of today in this special field of transport activities.

Introduction

Radioactive materials of natural or artificial origin are of widespread use in developed societies all over the world. They are used in medicine, research, industrial manufacturing, agriculture, electric power generation and in other applications that assist our daily lives. By its radioactive nature the handling, use, and management of radioactive material (RAM) including their transport gives rise to potential radiological (and non-radiological) hazards. For the establishment of an adequate level of safety and protection of people, property and the environment the resultant risks must be constrained below unacceptable levels.

For the development of international commerce with large amounts of commercial goods including hazardous materials being freely traded and moved within and outside of the European Union, the establishment of a uniform approach to protection and safety in transport (i.e. by land, air, inland waterways and sea) and the development, application and maintenance of a coherent and harmonised set of safety standards and criteria (safety goals) is of vital importance.

In recognition of this need the regulatory bodies concerned including those of the European Union (EU) have developed a framework of controls and associated legal instruments to establish and enforce an adequate level of protection and safety for radioactive material shipments by all modes of transport. As a result in the fifteen EU Member States protection and safety of persons, property and the environment against the hazardous (radiological and non-radiological) nature of radioactive material during transport is governed by a range of legally binding and non-binding regional and international instruments. The standards of safety and provisions embodied in this regulatory regime and being used for judging and ensuring the efficiency and adequacy of safety and protection relate to a broad variety of radiological and non-radiological safety issues including, for example, the development and application of sound engineering design and manufacturing principles and good operational procedures and conditions for packagings (e.g. by providing built-in safety through containment of RAM, effective control of radiation, criticality and heat generation), the assignment of certain safety-related duties and responsibilities to transport operators (e.g. notification and prior-approval of certain shipments), the adoption of quality assurance arrangements, the provision of arrangements for the management of radiation emergency situations, the implementation of precautions to protect nuclear material against malicious acts (e.g. theft and sabotage) and from being used for non-peaceful applications (non-proliferation), the provision of civil nuclear liability for damage and compensation (third party liability) and the establishment of an appropriate regulatory infrastructure.

The existing suite of regulatory instruments and regulations governing protection and safety in transport of radioactive material is in parts hierarchically structured and is essentially formed by the regulatory framework comprising (a) the IAEA Transport Regulations including the UN Model Regulations, (b) the Modal Agreements of the regional and international transport organisations (International Modal Regulations), (c) a range of EU Directives and Regulations and (d) a variety of international conventions, codes and agreements.

This paper identifies and describes the structured system of legally binding and non-binding instruments and regulations and the related legislation which bear on safety and security in transport of domestic and international radioactive material shipments and emphasises the regulatory framework applicable in EU Member States. A broader collection and description of regional and international instruments, laws and regulations with relevance to safety and protection in the various fields of peaceful applications of nuclear energy may be found elsewhere, ElBaradei, M.M. et al. 1993, ElBaradei, M.M. et al. 1995 NEA/OECD 1997. Some reflections on the historical development of the regulatory framework for radioactive material transport are being provided in Ridder 1992.

The IAEA Transport Regulations

As early as in the 1950s it was recognised that in the interest of safety and commercial economics, regulations governing the transport of dangerous goods including radioactive materials (RAM) should be subject to harmonised standards of safety and protection intermodally (i.e. land, air, inland waterways and sea) and internationally, given that these transports take place all around the world. In recognition of this need, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1959 entrusted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an United Nations Agency, with the task of preparing recommendations relating to the transport of radioactive material, and requested the IAEA to take on this responsibility. Subsequently, the IAEA established and first published its “Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material” (Safety Series No. 6) in 1961 /IAEA Bull. 40/2/1998, p. 18-20/.

Subsequent regular reviews, conducted in consultation with its Member States and international organisations concerned resulted in several revisions of the Regulations (1964, 1967, 1975, 1985, 1996) with the latest edition being published in 1996, known as “Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material”, 1996 Edition, in a document called ST-1. ST-1 was subsequently reviewed and revised (in English) with minor editorial corrections, and in 2000, an errata was issued and a revised version published in the IAEA Safety Standards Series called TS-R-1 (ST-1, Revised). That document supersedes all previous editions of the Transport Regulations issued under IAEA Safety Series No. 6.

These Regulations establish the standards of safety and protection which provide an acceptable level of control of the radiation hazards to persons, property and the environment under all conditions of transport from the potentially hazardous effects of ionising radiation during transport of RAM. The radiation safety standards and criteria controlling occupational and public exposure draw generally upon information derived from extensive research and development by scientific and technical bodies at national and international levels, upon radiation health effect studies and of techniques for the safe design and use of radiation sources and ionising radiation. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are key organisations in compiling, assessing and disseminating of information on the health effects of ionising radiation and the development and maintenance of relevant radiological safety standards and criteria. These radiobiological considerations are complemented by engineering assessments and evaluation of the technical standards and requirements relevant to safety and security during the transport of RAM shipments.

Under the IAEA Regulations safety and protection in transport is based on the philosophy that radioactive material must be adequately packaged to provide an acceptable level of protection against the harmful effects of radiation and radioactive material under all conditions of transport with minimal reliance on operational controls. This is technically achieved by adopting sound package design and manufacturing principles which call upon built-in-safety, rather than on human intervention, and by requiring:

a) containment of the radioactive contents during handling and transport,

b) control of the external radiation levels (e.g. by shielding),

c) prevention of nuclear criticality in the case of fissile material, and

d) prevention of damage caused by heat

The basic safety requirements are satisfied firstly by applying a graded approach to contents limits for packages and conveyances and to performance standards applied to the package design appropriate to the level of hazard and accounting for form and quantity of RAM. The 1996 Regulations provide performance standards for five different packages (excepted, industrial (IP), Type A, Type B and Type C). Secondly, they are met by imposing requirements on the design and operation of packages and maintenance of packagings. Additional requirements relate to marking, labelling, documentation, operational controls (e.g. the establishment of radiation protection programmes for transport), personal training, emergency response arrangements and quality assurance. Third, they assign specific responsibilities of compliance with certain duties, requirements and procedures to the parties involved in the transport of RAM (i.e. the transport operators and competent authorities) and establish administrative controls including, where appropriate, approval of packages and shipments by the competent authority and notification requirements for certain shipments. Finally, the responsibility for providing adequate packaging and ensuring compliance with all applicable package requirements is placed on the consignor of a radioactive material. Dependency for safety on actions by the carrier is as far as possible minimised.

The Regulations provide a regulatory framework for all categories of radioactive materials ranging from very low to very high activity such as spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste and cover a broad range of facets of the safe transport by a set of technical, organisational and administrative safety requirements and controls including the actions required by the consignor and carrier. Application of and compliance with these Regulations is deemed to satisfy the radiation protection principles of the International Basic Safety Standards (IAEA 1996) and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP 1990). Confidence in this regard is achieved through quality assurance and compliance assurance programmes.

The IAEA Transport Regulations are surrounded by a number of Safety Guides of an advisory and explanatory nature developed under IAEA auspices to advice on and facilitate the implementation and application of the Regulations, and to improve the understanding of the regulatory requirements and provisions. These documents are closely related to each other and are under continuous review to keep them current with the latest edition of the Regulations and include the following:

• Advisory Material for the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (1996 Edition), IAEA Safety Standards Series No. TS-G-1 (Draft), (formerly IAEA Safety Series No. 7 and No. 37)
• Planning and Preparing for Emergency Response to Transport Accidents involving Radioactive Material (Draft), IAEA Safety Guide TS-G-1.1 (ST-3), August 2000 (formerly IAEA Safety Series No. 87)
• Compliance Assurance for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, IAEA Safety Series No. 112, 1994
• Quality Assurance for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, IAEA Safety Series No. 113, 1994

It is to be noted that the IAEA Transport Regulations are – other than to its own and IAEA assisted operations - not legally binding on Member States and other regional or international transport organisations - they are recommended regulatory standards in nature for all modes of transport -, but may be adopted by them at their own discretion, for development and use in respect of their own regulatory activities. In fact the IAEA encourages Member States and transport organisations concerned “that the Regulations be taken as a basis for corresponding national and international regulations” /Rawl 1998, IAEA 2000/ and to take the standards into full consideration in the formulation and implementation of their national laws and regulations. Currently, almost all international organisations concerned and more than 60 IAEA Member States are known to have adopted the recommended Regulations directly or indirectly for their own regulations. Also the UN Recommendation on the Transport of Dangerous Goods - Model Regulations, widely known as “Orange Book”, have always referred to the multimodal IAEA Regulations and the latest two editions of the Orange Book (Eleventh and twelfth revised edition) published in 1999 and 2001 have fully integrated them.

Although the Regulations establish an essential basis for safety and protection in respect of transport, regulatory initiatives regarding the development and implementation of more detailed safety provisions, in accordance with national needs and requirements, may be necessary. Also there are special safety and security aspects that need to be considered and evaluated on a case-by-case basis on a national, regional or international level. Examples are the establishment of regulatory bodies (i.e. competent authorities), emergency preparedness and response provisions, quality assurance and compliance assurance arrangements which have to be taken into account in the overall regulatory control of transport.

Similarly physical protection (i.e. protection against malicious acts), safeguards control (i.e. prevention of theft and diversion of nuclear material for non-peaceful purposes) and third party liability considerations are outside the scope of the Regulations. Other safety-relevant areas are only covered in a very general sense by the Regulations, e.g. worker training and information needs, and require further development. The obligation of Member States in this respect need to be addressed on the basis of instruments and arrangements applicable on a national or regional basis. Due consideration should be given in addressing this topics to the publications developed under the auspices of the IAEA cross-referenced above. Also non-radiological aspects of industrial safety and environmental protection are not explicitly considered in the Regulations and need to be addressed elsewhere.

The International Modal Regulations

The IAEA, the lead organisation in contributing to the safe transport of RAM and in the development, maintenance and dissemination of the related Regulations, has always worked in close co-operation with the UN Economic and Social Council Committee of Experts (ECOSOC) of the Transport of Dangerous Goods, its Member States as well as with other specialised organisations involved in regulating the national, regional or international transport of RAM. Therefore, the provisions of the IAEA Regulations are not only reflected in the national arrangements of Member States, but bear also on the regulatory arrangements relative to each mode of transport as issued by international or regional organisations concerned with the safe transport of hazardous material.

Those organisations that have responsibilities for regulating the worldwide or regional transport of hazardous material and that have incorporated and amended the recommended regulatory standards and provisions embodied in the IAEA Transport Regulation for radioactive material (class 7 material) into their mode specific regulations, conventions and agreements are given in Table 1 and cover all modes of transport. The interrelationship between the existing international and modal regulations and the associated transport organisations is schematically depicted in Figure 1. Through the adoption of the IAEA Transport Regulations for all modes of transport, a coherent and very high standard of safety in transport has been achieved in Europe and worldwide. The international modal regulations and agreements are updated periodically.

It is in particular to note that the development and adoption of the INF-Code represents an important deviation from the past regulatory practice for the transport of radioactive substances which was multimodal in nature /Selling 1992/ in that the INF-Code establishes - in addition to the relevant package requirements - for the first time specific safety standards and criteria for sea-going conveyances carrying large quantities of packaged radioactive material on board a vessel /Selling 1994, Hesse and Young 1995, Young 1995, Hesse 1998/.

Table 1: The International Modal Regulations

Mode of Transport Organisation/Regulation Sea International Maritime Organisation (IMO), International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG-Code); International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Code for the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Waste in Flasks on Board Ships (INF-Code) Air International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), The Technical Instruction for Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (ICAO-TI); International Air Transport Association (IATA), Dangerous Goods Regulations (IATA-DGR) Rail Central Office for the International Transport by Rail (OCTI), International Regulations concerning the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID) Road The UN/ECE’s Inland Transport Committee (ITC), European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) Inland Waterways The UN/ECE’s Inland Transport Committee (ITC), European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods on Inland Waterways (ADN) (Draft);   The Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), Agreement concerning the Carriage of Dangerous Goods on the River Rhine (ADNR) Post Universal Postal Union (UPU), Universal Postal Convention and detailed Regulations

European Union Regulatory Framework and related Legal Instruments

The ultimate policy objective of the creation of the European Single Market on 1. January 1993 was the establishment of a Europe with existing fiscal, physical and technical barriers being dismantled and competition and the free movement of goods, labour and services being facilitated while ensuring and maintaining adequate standards of safety and protection.

In pursuing this policy emphasis has been placed on seeking harmonisation in legal instruments of EU Member States on the basis of already existing international standards, conventions, agreements etc. /Blackman et al. 1992, van Gerwen et al. 1995/. In respect of land transport of hazardous materials (i.e. by road and rail), the alignment of the EU Member States legally binding domestic legislation with the internationally recognised road and rail transport agreements ADR (European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road) and RID (International Regulations concerning the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail), respectively, through the adoption of the Council Directive 94/55/EC and Council Directive 96/49/EC and their related amendments represents a milestone in the achievement of harmonisation in the applicable safety standards and criteria for all classes of hazardous materials.

These Council Directives and their amendments are complemented by a number of legal instruments and associated EU legislation bearing on transport safety issues of particular concern to the European Union (EU) and its Member States. The most relevant EU Regulations, Directives, Recommendations and Decisions concerning the transport of radioactive material are listed in Table 2 and grouped by mode of transport. Community Regulations and Directives are binding on Member States. Regulations are readily binding and enforceable legislation while Directives require some regulatory action on the part of the Member States to bring them into force. The other legal instruments, though not binding on Member States play an important role in defining EU policy and practices /Ridder 1995, Ciani 1999, European Commission 2000, Ridder 2001/.

The applicable Directives and Regulations establish certain duties and obligations on EU Member States and transport operators by requiring, for example:

- Approval or notification of certain transboundary shipments of radioactive material.

- Appointment of safety advisors by hazardous material transport operators.

- Application of uniform procedures for checks of dangerous goods shipments by road.

- Information of the general public in the case of a radiological emergency.

- Application of the provisions of the EURATOM safeguards to prevent the spread and misuse of special nuclear material and explosive nuclear weapons. 
Under the provisions of the EURATOM Treaty the European Commission has inter alia acquired the status of a supranational regulatory agency in the field of safeguards control for EU Member States. The basic functions of this regional safeguard system are exercised in close co-operation between the IAEA and the EURATOM Inspectorate of the European Commission.

- Notification of the competent authority of the Community port Member State by vessels carrying dangerous or polluting goods.

- Implementation and application of the EURATOM Basic Safety Standards for radiation protection.

International Conventions, Codes and Agreements

The internationalisation of nuclear and radiation safety has resulted in the development of a range of international conventions and agreements bearing on safety issues beyond those being addressed in the standards and regulations discussed previously. Notable examples are those relating to legal liability against nuclear damage, early notification and emergency assistance, physical protection and safeguards control. The related conventions, protocols and agreements broaden significantly the international safety and security regime concerning nuclear energy and promote the application of international standards of safety to manage issues that are of great concern to the public and the media.

Both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (NEA/OECD) have been instrumental in promoting and advancing the development, implementation and application of safety standards and procedures in the field of civil nuclear liability, physical protection and safeguards control of nuclear material (cf. the IAEA and NEA/OECD Website).

Early Notification and Mutual Emergency Assistance

Although there have been no reported transport accidents with widespread radiological consequences and despite the measures being taken to ensure and enforce a high standard of protection and safety in transport there is still a finite probability that incidents and accidents with serious consequences may take place in the public domain. These consequences can be controlled and mitigated by proper emergency preparedness and response actions. Both the “Convention on Early Notification of Nuclear Accidents” and the “Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency” deal with international emergency preparedness and response and may be useful and necessary to respond to major transport accidents.

The “Notification Convention” applies in the event of any accident involving facilities or activities of a State Party, or those under its jurisdiction or control, from which a release or of radioactive material occurs or is likely to occur, or which has resulted or may result in an international transboundary release that could be of radiological safety significance to other States. In the event of a nuclear accident during transport, the State Party concerned is obliged to immediately notify directly or through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), those States which are or may be affected.

Similarly, the “Assistance Convention” provides for mutual co-operation between States and with the IAEA to facilitate prompt emergency assistance to minimise the radiological consequences or radiological emergency from the effects of radioactive releases. A State Party could also request assistance from any other State Party or from other international organisations under the provisions of the Convention (Flakus and Johnson 1998, IAEA 1998).

Civil Nuclear Liability

Two major conventions and related protocols have a significant influence in the area of liability and compensation for damage to persons and property caused by incidents and accidents involving shipments of nuclear material. These are the "Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy (signed on 29 July 1960 in Paris) as amended by the Additional Protocol of 28^th January 1964 and by the Protocol of 16^th November 1982" (hereinafter referred to as the Paris Convention), the "Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage - Vienna 21 May 1963" (hereinafter referred to as Vienna Convention) and the “Joint Protocol relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention – Vienna 21 September 1988”.

Both the Paris Convention and the Vienna Convention establish a special and uniform regime of third party liability for nuclear damage and compensation. These instruments cover - other than ordinary transport insurances which cover the value of goods being transported - the potential damage radioactive goods may cause to third parties and hold the operator of a nuclear installation strictly and exclusively liable for nuclear damage that results from a nuclear accident at a nuclear installation or during the transport to or from a nuclear installation. The conventions also establish a minimum amount of liability of the operator, which must be covered by some form of financial security, e.g. insurance. The Joint Protocol establishes a link between the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention, combining them into a one expanded liability regime by extending the benefits of each convention to the Parties of the other. The Joint Protocol also avoids both conventions applying to the same accident, which in particular avoids the necessity of double insurance in the case of transport (OECD 1988; IAEA Bull. 2/1992, p. 54).

In the case of damage caused by a nuclear accident occurring in the course of maritime carriage of nuclear material the requirements of the “Convention relating to Civil Liability in the Field of Maritime Carriage of Nuclear Material” of 17 December 1974 done at Brussels must be taken into account.

Physical Protection

The "Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material" (INFCIRC/274/Rev.1, May 1980) developed under the auspices of the IAEA obliges Contracting States (a) to ensure during international transport effective protection of nuclear material used for peaceful purposes within their territory or on board their ships or aircraft, (b) to establish a framework for international co-operation for protection, recovery and return of stolen nuclear material and (c) to adopt appropriate and effective measures to ensure the prevention, detection and punishment of offences involving nuclear material, e.g. the misuse, sabotage or theft of such material.

Effective protection under the Convention is generally achieved through the implementation and application of appropriate administrative and technical measures including physical barriers. The Convention prescribes the levels of physical protection at which nuclear material being used for peaceful purposes is to be protected while in international transport. Other provisions apply to such material while in domestic use, storage and transport. The recommended level of physical protection being applied in the use, storage and transport of nuclear material is graded and related to the category of material (The Convention defines three categories of materials: Category I - III). The Convention also requires each party to the Convention not to permit the export, import or transit of such material unless it is satisfied that the nuclear material will be protected at those levels.

The primary responsibility for providing protection in transport lies on the consignor and the carrier. The responsible organisations transporting nuclear material is generally being required to prepare a security plan for protecting the nuclear material. Specific guidance on the principles, relevant measures, recommendations and requirements for ensuring effective physical protection may be found in the IAEA Information Circular INFCIRC/225/Rev. 4, (Corrected), 1999 (IAEA 1999).

Safeguards Control

The 1968 ”Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)” is one of the major global agreements to prevent the spread of nuclear material for non-peaceful purposes (diversion) and of nuclear weapon technology and some 185 countries are Parties to the NPT. [Other relevant treaties are, for example, regional in scope such as the 1967 Tlatelolco Treaty (Latin America) and the Rarotonga Treaty (South Pacific Region).] The NPT requires that all of the nuclear (special fissionable) materials in peaceful uses in a non-nuclear weapon State party to the Treaty be declared and submitted to comprehensive safeguards. Safeguards are technical means aiming at to provide assurance to the international community that a signatory State is complying with its non-proliferation commitments adopted under the NPT and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been entrusted to independently verify a State’s non-proliferation obligations.

In Europe, a regional safeguards system was established by the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Agency (EURATOM). The safeguarding measures and procedures of EURATOM and the IAEA are similar in nature and, consequently, the nuclear safeguards activities have for long time been applied in close co-operation between the IAEA and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) Inspectorate of the European Commission based on the related EURATOM-IAEA Verification Agreement (INFCIRC/193, Sept. 1973), cf. for example IAEA 1990, Thorstensen and Chitumbo 1995, Fischer 1997, IAEA 1997, CEC 2001, Nackaerts and Kloeckner 2001.

The IAEA and EURATOM safeguards system uses nuclear material accountancy, containment and surveillance and on-site inspections as its principal measures for the safeguarding of declared special fissionable material. The control system serves basically to establish the quantities of nuclear material present in a nuclear facility, storage place, package etc. and the changes that take place over time. Continuous remote video surveillance, record checking, taking independent measurements and the application of electronic and non-electronic tags and seals are typical verification techniques being used in safeguards systems to prevent undetected tampering of declared nuclear material in peaceful use and are an important basis for independent verification activities of the EURATOM/IAEA safeguards control system.

Conclusions and Perspectives

The transport of radioactive substances has been subject to a stringent regulatory regime including well established safety standards and regulations for many years. Through the adoption of harmonised sets of standards and criteria for all modes of transport a coherent and very high standard of occupational safety and public welfare in transport has been achieved in Europe and internationally. The procedures for adopting and implementing these standards and criteria for regulatory control of the transport of radioactive material into legally binding legislation on a national basis differ from country to country and are left to the discretion of each EU Member State. Each country must act within its own national statutory requirements.

Further development and harmonisation of these standards and criteria is a continuing challenge for the growing market and exchange of goods and services regionally and internationally including and involving radioactive materials while maintaining and promoting the today’s excellent performance and safety record.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the use of material, information etc. already published on the subject of rules and regulations and standards and criteria pertaining to the transport of RAM, particularly by the IAEA (Vienna), OECD (Paris), and the European Commission. The authors also acknowledge the valuable advice and assistance provided by K.B. Shaw, National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), UK, during the preparation of this paper.

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Definition of Terms:

Compliance assurance: Shall mean a systematic programme of measures applied by a competent authority which is aimed at ensuring that the provisions of the Regulations are met in practice.

Hazard: A source or situation with the potential for herm in terms of human injury or ill-health, damage to property, damage to the environment, or a combination of these.

IAEA safeguards: A verification system within the framework of the international non-proliferation policy applied to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and entrusted to IAEA by its Statute.

Physical protection: Measures for the protection of nuclear material or authorised facilities designed to prevent unauthorised access or removal of fissile material or sabotage with regard to safeguards.

Practice: Any human activity that introduces additional sources of exposure or exposure pathways or extends exposure to additional people or modifies the network of exposure pathways from existing sources, so as to increase the exposure or the likelihood of exposure or people or the number of people exposed.

Quality assurance: Shall mean a systematic programme of controls and inspections applied by any organisation or body involved in the transport of radioactive material which is aimed at providing adequate confidence that the standard of safety prescribed by the Regulations is achieved in practice.

Protection and safety: The protection of people against exposure to ionizing radiation or radioactive substances and the safety of radiation sources, including the means of achieving such protection and safety, such as the various procedures and devices for keeping people’s doses and risks as low as can be reasonably achieved and below prescribed dose constraints as well as the means for preventing accidents and for mitigating the consequences of accidents should they occur.

Radiation protection programme (RPP): RPP shall mean systematic arrangements which are aimed at providing adequate consideration of radiation protection measures in transport.

Radioactive material: Material designated in national law or by a regulatory body as being subject to regulatory control because of its radioactivity.

Risk: A multi-attribute quantity expressing hazard, danger or chance of harmful or injurious consequences associated with actual or potential exposure. It relates to quantities such as the probability that specific deleterious consequences may arise and the magnitude and the character of such consequences.

Risk assessment: Assessment of the radiological risks associated with normal operation and possible accidents involving a source or practice.

Source: Anything that may cause radiation exposure, such as emitting ionizing radiation or releasing radioactive substances or materials.

Figure 1:  International Organisations and Regulations concerning the Transport of Dangerous Goods including Radioactive Material

Table 2: European Union Regulations and Directives concerning the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material

  Adapted from: Comparison and evaluation of regulatory aspects of the transport of radioactive material in the Member States of the European Union and applicant countries, Final Report (Edited and compiled by G.L. Neilson and A. Kennedy, NNC Limited, UK), CEC Contract No. 4.1020/D/99-002 (DG TREN), March 2001