Shipments radioactive materials

A casual conversation with a layman about radioactive materials transportation is likely to focus on packaging durable enough to protect the integrity of the shipment, and on transportation practices that ensure public safety and security. These are, or course, important considerations in a radioactive material shipment. However, these are not the first priorities when planning a compliant shipment. 

One pitfall to avoid in preparing for a radioactive materials shipment is erroneously focusing on the detailed requirements of the shipping regulations without careful consideration of their applicability. For example, the definition of radioactive material is stated clearly in 49 CFR 173.403, and guidance for calculating activity for each isotope is plainly stated in 49 CFR 173.433 and 173.436. However, the shipper must also consider the scope of 49 CFR 173 Subpart I, found in 49 CFR 173.401. 

Much of the regulation of radioactive material shipment hinges on the A1/A2 value, and the classification and packaging of the material may fall in line after this determination is made. However, a large portion of radioactive material shipments make use of provisions for LSA material that falls outside of the A1/A2, Type A/Type B regulatory structure. 

The shipper should ensure that the carrier selected for the radioactive material shipment is professionally qualified and is in compliance with federal registration requirements. Some of the basic requirements to check include... 

Loose (nonfixed) surface contamination limits are established in 49 CFR 173.443. These are levels established for allowable surface contamination on packages of radioactive materials shipments subject to Class 7 controls. The limits apply to contamination on the surface of the package, which is assumed to be 10 times greater than the amount of contamination measured on the wiping material used to collect lose contamination from the surface. This is in sharp contrast to surface contamination measurement techniques employed elsewhere (e.g., in some NRC and DOE guidance), in which the regulated contamination level is the level detected on the wiping material. 

List of isotopes comprising any radioactive material shipment... 

Standard labeling requirements for radioactive material shipments are based on the radiation level at the surface of the package and the transport index (the radiation level at 1 m, as defined in 49 CFR 173.403). Standard labels are as follows, in order of increasing dose rate ... 

Additional reactor staff is not needed. However, since irradiated samples are shipped off site, often internationally, expertise in radioactive material shipments is required. A customer with the required laboratory equipment (mass spectrometers) to perform Ar/Ar analysis is necessary. 

Radioactive materials shipments (above/below thresholds)... 

Spent fuel casks are of type B. For the movement of spent fuel, computer tracking systems are used. State radiological safety units are informed of shipments of spent fuel and other high activity radioactive materials so that these units may respond in case of accident. 

The safety record for transport of radioactive materials including spent fuel and wastes is excellent. Information about transportation of radioactive materials including waste is managed by DOE. Codes such as RADTRAN that can calculate pubHc radiation dose owing to the passage of shipments have been developed. The maximum dosage from such shipments is a very small fraction of the typical annual radiation dose from all other sources. 

The NRC also imposes special security requirements for spent fuel shipments and transport of highly enriched uranium or plutonium materials that can be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. These security measures include route evaluation, escort personnel and vehicles, communications capabiHties, and emergency plans. State governments are notified in advance of any planned shipment within their state of spent fuel, or any other radioactive materials requiring shipment in accident-proof. Type B containers. 

On November 18, 2005, in Houston, the Texas Department of Health Services asked the public to help locate some radioactive vials that disappeared earlier that month from a shipment out of New Mexico. The vials contain antimony-124, a radioactive material for use in the oil and gas industry, with the label RADIOACTIVE. It is believed by authorities that the vials were removed within Texas when the carrier s tractor trailer stopped in Abilene, Austin, Dallas, and Tyler. Anyone finding the missing vials should not touch the box or the actual vials, and should stay at least ten feet away from them. Anyone with factual information should call 512-458-7460. 

Shipments of radioactive materials, originated by many different shippers throughout the world, are controlled by an established code of national and international regulations. Although most nuclear operations relate to a localized population, transport potentially... 

Amounts of radioactive material are usually expressed in units of activity, the rate of radioactive decay. The accepted unit is the curie (Ci) and its metric multiples and fractions, the mega, kilo, milli-, and microcurie. A curie is 3.73 X1010disintegrations per sec. A common unit is millicuries per millimole. Packaging and shipment of radioactive materials, which are highly toxic, must be in accord with official requirements. Consult IATA and DOT shipping regulations for labeling and other instructions. 

Balanced against these calls, however, are criticisms of this plan for centralized storage. Critics contend that thousands of shipments of highly radioactive material will be required over decades and that when Yucca Mountain reaches capacity, tens of thousands of tons of high-level waste must still be stored where it was generated. In addition, some have questioned the stability of Yucca Mountain as a geological repository, claiming the site sits on both an earthquake zone and volcanic zone. 

General requirements for shipments and packages—Class 7 (radioactive) materials DOT 2001d 49CFR173 Subpart I... 

DOT. 1997. General requirements for shipments and packaging. Class 7 (radioactive) materials. U.S. Department of Transportation. Code of Federal Regulations. 49 CFR 173, Subpart I. 

Finally, any packaging or accessory which has been used for a shipment of radioactive materials and which contains residual internal radioactive contamination must, when shipped as empty, have an EMPTY label affixed to the packaging. 

See 173.389 (c) and 173.389 (o), for full-load shipments of radioactive materials meeting the definition of low specific activity when transported pursuant to 173.392 (b). 

Part 1 73. Review of regulations pertaining to packaging and shipments of radioactive materials... 

FIG. 18.13. Label for shipment of radioactive material of class U. 11 in red with a yellow background. 

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) controls transportation of hazardous and radioactive materials under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act by regulations in 49 CFR 171-179. Shipments of samples to the laboratory and of waste from the laboratory must meet these regulations. 

Regulations applicable to the shipment of radioactive materials provide an acceptable level of control of radiation, criticality, and thermal hazards to persons, property, and the environment during routine, normal, and accidental conditions by all modes, as governed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. These rules are promulgated in the Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials (RFT). 

Development of specialised network algorithms for radioactive material routing and scheduling strategies that explicitly recognise the multi-objective and fuzzy nature of the associated risks, and that may be applied on-line in conjunction with real-time information on shipment location as well as up-to-the-minute updated risk assessments Development of computer software to achieve optimum strategy for safe transportation of radioactive materials using fuzzy set theory methods. 

---