Transportation of radioactive materials

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. 

O Farrell, T.P. and R.O. Gilbert. 1975. Transport of radioactive materials by jackrabbits on the Hanford Reservation. Health Phys. 29 9-15. 

Study of the transport of radioactive materials by rain water (B12). 

IAEA, Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, IAEA Safety Standards Series, Report TS-R-1 (ST-1 Revised), 1996. 

Figure 9.7. Three types of US DOT labels required for transportation of radioactive materials.

Transport of radioactive materials is regulated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) in conjunction with the USNRC. Coordinating government emergency response to accidents involving radioactive materials is the responsibility of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). 

A representation of the "energy zones" of a nuclear reactor. Heat produced by the reactor core is carried by water in a second zone to a boiler. Water in the boiler (third zone) is converted to steam, which drives a turbine to convert heat energy to electrical energy. The isolation of these zones from each other allows heat energy transfer without actual physical mixing. This minimizes the transport of radioactive material into the environment. 

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). 

Class 7 material (radioactive material) shall mean any material containing radionuclides where both the activity concentration and the total activity in the consignment exceed the values specified in paragraphs 401-406 of the Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, (1996) IAEA Safety Standards Series No. ST-1. UN 2.7.1... 

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Table VIII Excerpts from List of United Nations Numbers, Proper Shipping Names and Descriptions, Subsidiary Risks and Their Relationship to the Schedules, Section V Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, 1996 Edition, IAEA Safety Standards Series IAEA Vienna, 1996. 

M. C. Brady et al., Comparison of Analysis Methods for Burnup Credit Applications, pp. 771-778 in Proc. of 9th International Symposium on the Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials, June 11-15, 1989, Washington, D.C., CONF-890631, Vol. 2, 1989. 

Regulation regarding the transport of radioactive material has been prepared by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in consultation with UN specialized agencies and IAEA member states. 

Revised Regulations for Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials, ... 

According to the Russian document, Main regulations of safety and physical protection of nuclear materials transport, [2] IAEA Regulations for safe transport of radioactive material, [3] and other normative documents, the safety of transport should be ensured by the design of transport packages. 

Regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material, (1991), SS6 IAEA, Vienna. 

The following are some potential elements of the NMSA that relate to transportation of radioactive materials ... 

Development of a version of RADTRAN, or other code for analysis of the risk associated with transportation of radioactive materials, that is suited to the rail transportation system used in Russia ... 

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. 

Kosterev, V. V., et al. (1998) Computer modelling for risk assessment of emergency situations and terrorist attacks during transportation using methods of fuzzy set theory, Procs. of the 12th International Conference on the Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials (PATRAM 98). 

A Nuclear Safety Division had been set up at the inception of the Agency. In its early years this mainly considered matters of a self-evidently international nature such as the transport of radioactive materials across international boundaries. In the early 1970s the IAEA began developing a Nuclear Safety Standards Programme to create internationally accepted standards on subjects such as siting, design, operation and quality assurance. 

Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 10 CFR part 71, January 1998. 

The preparation and review of safety standards involves the IAEA Secretariat and four safety standards committees for safety in the areas of nuclear safety (NUSSC), radiation safety (RASSC), the safety of radioactive waste (WASSC) and the safe transport of radioactive material (TRANSSC), and a Commission on Safety Standards (CSS), which oversees the entire safety standards programme. AU IAEA Member States may nominate experts for the safety standards committees and may provide comments on draft standards. The membership of the CSS is appointed by the Director General and includes senior government officials having responsibility for estabhshing national standards. 

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