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Each day thousands of shipments of radioactive materials of all kinds are transported on international and national routes. These consignments, which are carried by road, rail, sea, air and inland waterway can range from smoke detectors, and cobalt sources for medical uses, to nuclear fuel cycle materials for electricity generation.

The international transport of radioactive materials is governed by a stringent regulatory regime, which includes standards, codes and regulations which have been continuously revised and updated over the past four decades.

The IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material set the basis for nuclear fuel cycle transport. The current version is
TS-R-1;2005 Edition.

The IAEA Regulations are based on the fundamental principle that radioactive material being transported should be packaged adequately to provide protection against the various hazards of the material under both normal and potential accident conditions. Safety, therefore, relies on the package - on the packaging adapted to its radioactive contents, whatever the transport mode.

Because safety depends primarily on the package, the Regulations set out several performance standards in this area. They provide for five different primary packages, (Excepted, Industrial, Type A, Type B and Type C) and set the criteria for their design according to both the activity and the physical form of the radioactive material they may contain. The IAEA Regulations lay down corresponding test procedures to demonstrate compliance with the required performance standards.

“Over several decades of transport, there has never been an in-transit accident with serious human health, economic or environmental consequences attributable to the radioactive nature of the goods.”

IAEA International Conference on the Safety of Transport of Radioactive Material, Vienna, 2003.

The provisions of the IAEA Regulations are not only reflected in the national requirements of Member States, but also in the regulation relative to each mode of transport as issued by international or regional bodies.

Safety Regulations for the Transport of Radioactive Material

 

Mode of Transport	International/ Regional Organisation	Name of Regulation / Agreement / Codes	Current Version	Scope
All	IAEA	Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, TS-R-1	TS-R-1; 2005 Edition	Worldwide
All	UN	Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods	2007 Edition (15th Revised Edition)	Worldwide
Sea	IMO	International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code)	2007 Edition (with amendment 33-06)	Worldwide
Sea	IMO	International Code for the Safe Carriage of Packaged Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Wastes on Board Ships (INF Code)	2000 Edition	Worldwide
Air	ICAO	Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (TI)	2007 - 2008 Edition	Worldwide
Air	IATA	Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR)	2008 Edition	Worldwide
Road	UN/ECE	European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR)	2007 Edition	Regional
Rail	OTIF	Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID)	2007 Edition	Regional
Road and rail	MERCOSUR/ MERCOSUL	Agreement of Partial Reach to Facilitate the Transport of Dangerous Goods	1994	Regional
Inland Waterways	UN/ECE	European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways (ADN)	2007 Edition	Regional
Inland Waterways	CCNR	Provisions concerning the Carriage of Dangerous Goods on the Rhine (ADNR)	2007 Edition	Rhine Navigation
Post	UPU	Universal Postal Convention and its detailed regulations	2005 Edition	Worldwide