The Radioactive Material (Road Transport) (Great Britain) Regulations 1996

Made: 20th May 1996

Laid before Parliament: 29th May 1996

Coming into force: 20th June 1996

The Secretary of State for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 2(1), (2), (3) and (6) of the Radioactive Material (Road Transport) Act 1991[^f00001] hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation and Commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Radioactive Material (Road Transport) (Great Britain) Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 20th June 1996.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “A₁” means the maximum activity of special form radioactive material permitted in a Type A package, calculated in accordance with Schedule 1;

• “A₂” means the maximum activity of radioactive material other than special form radioactive material permitted in a Type A package, calculated in accordance with Schedule 1;

• “accident conditions of transport” means conditions of transport involving more than minor mishaps;

• “ADR” means the 1995 edition of the “European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR)” (1995) produced by the Department of Transport and published by HMSO (ISBN 011-551265-9);

• “the Act” means the Radioactive Material (Road Transport) Act 1991;

• “carrier” means a person undertaking the transport of radioactive material, and includes both a carrier for hire or reward and a carrier on own account;

• “competent authority” means the Secretary of State, or any national authority of a state other than the United Kingdom or any international authority designated or otherwise recognised as a competent authority for any purpose in connection with the International Safety Regulations as they apply to road transport;

• “competent authority identification mark” means a mark assigned by a competent authority in accordance with Schedule 23;

• “consignee” any person who receives a consignment;

• “consignment” means any package or packages, or load of radioactive material, presented by a consignor for transport;

• “consignor” means any person who presents a consignment for transport and who is named as consignor in the transport documents, or a freight forwarder acting as agent for such a person;

• “containment system” means the assembly of components of the packaging specified by the designer as intended to retain and form the boundary of the radioactive material during transport;

• “contamination” means the contamination of any surface or any part of absorbent material by any radioactive material, and “contaminated” and “decontaminated” shall be construed accordingly;

• “conveyance” means any vehicle, any seagoing vessel or inland waterway craft used for carrying cargo, any hold, compartment or deck area of any such vessel or craft, or any aircraft;

• “the Dangerous Goods Recommendations” means the eighth revised edition of the “The United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods” prepared by the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods published by HMSO (ISBN 92-1-139042-7);

• “depleted uranium” means uranium containing a lesser mass percentage of uranium-235 than in natural uranium;

• “design” means, in relation to any package, packaging or special form radioactive material, a description which enables that package, packaging or material to be fully identified and which may include specifications, engineering drawings, reports demonstrating compliance with regulatory requirements, and other relevant documentation;

• “driver” means, in relation to a trailer, the driver of the vehicle by which the trailer is drawn;

• “excepted package” means a package which meets the requirements of paragraphs 1 to 9 and 12 of Schedule 2 and— is a package containing radioactive material of limited activity which meets the requirements of Schedule 3; is a package containing instruments or manufactured articles which meets the requirements of Schedule 4; or is an empty packaging which meets the requirements of Schedule 5.

• “exclusive use” means the sole use, by a single consignor, of a conveyance or of a large freight container with a minimum length of 6 metres, in respect of which all initial, intermediate, and final loading and unloading is carried out in accordance with the directions of the consignor or consignee;

• “fissile material” means uranium-233, uranium-235, plutonium-238, plutonium-239, plutonium-241, or any combination thereof, and does not include unirradiated natural uranium, unirradiated depleted uranium, or natural uranium or depleted uranium which has been irradiated in thermal reactors only;

• “fissible package” means a package which meets the requirements of Schedule 7;

• “fixed contamination” means contamination which is not non-fixed contamination;

• “freight container” means an article of transport equipment designed to facilitate the transport of goods, either packaged or unpackaged, by one or more modes of transport without intermediate reloading, which is of a permanent enclosed character, rigid and strong enough for repeated use, and fitted with devices facilitating its handling particularly in transfer between conveyances and from one mode of transport to another;

• “goods compartment” means a part of a vehicle intended or adapted for the transport of goods or burden;

• “industrial package” means an industrial package Type 1 (IP-1), an industrial package Type 2 (IP-2) or an industrial package Type 3 (IP-3);

• “industrial package Type 1 (IP-1)” means a package meeting the requirements of Schedule 9, Part I;

• “industrial package Type 2 (IP-2)” means a package meeting the requirements of Schedule 9, Part II;

• “industrial package Type 3 (IP-3)” means a package meeting the requirements of Schedule 9, Part III;

• “the International Safety Regulations” means the “Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material 1985 edition (As amended 1990)” published by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna 1990, Safety Series No. 6 (ISBN 92-0-123890-8);

• “the ISO classification document” means the International Organisation for Standardisation document, “Sealed radioactive sources—Classification” published by the British Standards Institution and HMSO (Reference No. ISO 2919-1980 (E));

• “the ISO freight containers document” means the International Organisation for Standardisation document, “Series 1 Freight Containers—Specifications and Testing—Part 1: General Cargo Containers” published by the British Standards Institution and HMSO (Reference No. ISO 1496/1-1978);

• “the ISO leak test document” means the International Organisation for Standardisation document, “Sealed Radioactive Sources—Leak Test Methods” published by the British Standards Institution and HMSO (Reference No. ISO/TR 4826-1979 (E));

• “large freight container” means a freight container which is not a small freight container;

• “low specific activity material” means radioactive material which by its nature has a limited specific activity, or for which limits of estimated average specific activity, disregarding external shielding materials surrounding the radioactive material, apply;

• “LSA material” means low specific activity material;

• “LSA-I” means LSA material comprising— ores containing naturally occurring radionuclides (such as uranium and thorium), and uranium or thorium concentrates of such ores; solid unirradiated natural uranium or depleted uranium or natural thorium or their solid or liquid compounds or mixtures; or radioactive material, other than fissile material, for which the A₂ value is unlimited;

• “LSA-II” means LSA material comprising— water with tritium concentration up to 0.8 TBq/L; or other material in which the activity is distributed throughout and the estimated average specific activity does not exceed 10−4 A₂/g for solids and gases, and 10−5 A₂/g for liquids;

• “LSA-III” means LSA material comprising solids (such as consolidated wastes and activated materials) in which: the radioactive material is distributed throughout a solid or a collection of solid objects, or is essentially uniformly distributed in a solid compact binding agent (such as concrete, bitumen, ceramic, etc.); the radioactive material is relatively insoluble, or it is intrinsically contained in a relatively insoluble matrix; and the estimated average specific activity of the solid, excluding any shielding material, does not exceed 2×10−3 A₂/g; and which is of such a nature that if the entire contents of a package containing the material were subjected to the test specified in Part I of Schedule 15 the activity in the water used in the test would not, at the end of the test, exceed 0.1 A₂;

• “low toxicity alpha emitter” means thorium-228 in ores or physical or chemical concentrates, natural uranium, depleted uranium, natural thorium, uranium-235, uranium-238, thorium-232, or an alpha emitter with a half-life of less than ten days;

• “maximum normal operating pressure” means the maximum pressure above atmospheric pressure at mean sea level that would develop in the containment system in a period of one year under the conditions of temperature and solar radiation corresponding to environmental conditions of transport in the absence of venting, external cooling by an ancillary system, or operational controls during transport;

• “multilateral approval” means approval by the competent authority both of the state of origin of the design or shipment and of each state through or into (but not by air over) which the consignment is to be transported;

• “naturally occurring distribution of uranium isotopes” means approximately 99.28% uranium-238 and 0.72% uranium-235 by mass, but including a very small mass percentage of uranium-234;

• “natural uranium” means chemically separated uranium containing the naturally occurring distribution of uranium isotopes;

• “non-fixed contamination” means contamination that can be removed from a surface during normal handling;

• “normal conditions of transport” means conditions of transport including minor mishaps;

• “the Northern Ireland Regulations” means regulations for the time being in force for Northern Ireland under an Order in Council under paragraph 1(1)(b) of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Act 1974[^f00002] which contains the statement specified in section 8 of the Act;

• “overpack” means an enclosure, such as a box or bag, which is used by a single consignor to consolidate into one handling unit a consignment of two or more packages for convenience of handling, stowage and transport;

• “package” means packaging with the radioactive contents thereof as presented for transport;

• “packaging” may, in particular, include service equipment for filling, emptying, venting and pressure relief, and devices for cooling, for absorbing mechanical shocks, for providing handling and tie-down capability, for thermal insulation and service devices integral to the package, and may be a box, drum or similar receptacle, or a freight container or tank;

• “personnel compartment” means a driver’s compartment in a vehicle or a part of a vehicle intended or adapted for the carriage of persons in the vehicle;

• “quality assurance programme” means a systematic programme of controls, inspections and training applied by any organisation or body involved in the transport of radioactive material, including designers and manufacturers of packagings, consignors and carriers, to ensure compliance with the requirements of the International Safety Regulations applicable to packages and consignments;

• “radiation level” means the corresponding dose equivalent rate expressed in millisieverts per hour (“mSv/h”);

• “radioactive contents” means radioactive material together with any contaminated solids, liquids and gases within the packaging;

• “radioactive material” does not include radioactive material which is an integral part of the means of transport of that material;

• “road”: (a) in relation to England and Wales, means any highway and any other road to which the public has access, and (b) in relation to Scotland has the same meaning as in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984[^f00003];

• “routine transport” means incident free conditions;

• “shipment” means the specific movement of a consignment from origin to destination where that movement includes transport in Great Britain;

• “small freight container” means a freight contrainer which has either any overall outer dimension less than 1.5 metres, or an internal volume of not more than 3.0 m³;

• “special arrangement” means provisions approved under regulation 15;

• “special form radioactive material” means an indispersible solid radioactive material or a sealed capsule containing radioactive material, which meets the requirements of Schedule 6;

• “specific activity” means the activity of a radionuclide per unit mass of that nuclide, the specific activity of a material in which the radionuclide is essentially uniformly distributed being the activity per unit mass of that material;

• “surface contaminated object” means a solid object which is not itself radioactive but which has radioactive material distributed on its surfaces;

• “SCO” means a surface contaminated object;

• “SCO-I” means an SCO on which: the non-fixed contamination on the accessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 4 Bq/cm² for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 0.4 Bq/cm² for all other alpha emitters; and the fixed contamination on the accessible surface, averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 4×10⁴ Bq/cm² for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 4×10³ Bq/cm² for all other alpha emitters; and the non-fixed contamination plus the fixed contamination on the inaccessible surface, averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 4×10⁴ Bq/cm² for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 4×10³ Bq/cm² for all other alpha emitters;

• “SCO-II” means an SCO on which either the fixed or non-fixed contamination on the surface exceeds the applicable limits specified for SCO-I in the definition of that term and on which: the non-fixed contamination on the accessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 400 Bq/cm² for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 40 Bq/cm² for all other alpha emitters; and the fixed contamination on the accessible surface, averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 8×10⁵ Bq/cm² for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 8×10⁴ Bq/cm² for all other alpha emitters; and the non-fixed contamination plus the fixed contamination on the inaccessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 8×10⁵ Bq/cm² for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 8×10⁴ Bq/cm² for all other alpha emitters;

• “tank” means a tank container, portable tank, a road tank vehicle, a rail tank wagon or a receptacle with a capacity of not less than 450 litres to contain liquids, powders, granules, slurries or solids which are loaded as gas or liquid and subsequently solidified, and not less than 1000 litres to contain gases;

• “tank container” means a container capable of being carried on land or on sea and of being loaded and discharged without the need of removal of its structural equipment, possessing stabilising members and tie-down attachments external to the shell, and capable of being lifted when full;

• “transport” means transport by road and includes all operations and conditions associated with and involved in the movement of radioactive material by road, including— the design, fabrication and maintenance of packaging, the preparation, consigning, handling, carriage, storage in transit and receipt at the final destination of packages, normal and accident conditions of transport by road encountered in carriage and in storage during transit, and transport by road which is incidental to the use of the radioactive material;

• “Transport Index (TI)” means a single number determined in accordance with Schedule 17 and assigned to a package, overpack, tank or freight container, or to unpackaged LSA-I or SCO-I;

• “Type A package” means a package containing an activity up to A₁, if special form radioactive material, or up to A₂ if not special form radioactive material, meeting the requirements of Schedule 11;

• “Type B package” means a package containing an activity that may be in excess of A₁, if special form radioactive material, or in excess of A₂ if not special form radioactive material, which is either a Type B(M) package or a Type B(U) package;

• “Type B(M) package” means a package meeting the requirements of Schedule 14;

• “Type B(U) package” means a package meeting the requirements of Schedule 13;

• “uncompressed gas” means gas at a pressure not exceeding ambient atmospheric pressure at the time the containment system is closed;

• “unilateral approval” means an approval of a design which is required to be given by the competent authority of the state of origin of the design alone;

• “unirradiated thorium” means thorium containing not more than 10−7 g of uranium-233 per gram of thorium-232;

• “unirradiated uranium” means uranium containing not more than 10−6 g of plutonium per gram of uranium-235 and not more than 9 MBq of fission products per gram of uranium-235;

• “vehicle” means a road vehicle, including an articulated vehicle, and, except for the purposes of regulation 34, each trailer shall be considered as a separate vehicle;

• “visiting force” means any such body, contingent or detachment of the forces of any state to which the provisions of the Visiting Forces Act 1952[^f00004] apply by virtue of section 1(1)(a) or section 1(1)(b), and any Order in Council under section 1(2), of that Act.

• (2) These Regulations give effect to the International Safety Regulations and, unless the context otherwise requires, other expressions used in these Regulations which are also used in those Regulations have the meaning they bear in those Regulations.

• (3) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to—

• (a) a numbered regulation or a numbered schedule is a reference to the regulation or schedule bearing that number in these Regulations;

• (b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in the regulation or schedule in which the reference appears;

• (c) a numbered table is a reference to the table bearing that number in Schedule 36.

Application of the Regulations

3

• (1) Subject to paragraph (2), these Regulations apply to the transport in Great Britain of any radioactive material.

• (2) These Regulations do not apply to—

• (a) the transport of radioactive material contained in the body of any person as a result of the implantation in that person of a radioisotopic cardiac pacemaker or other device, or the diagnosis or treatment of that person with radiopharmaceuticals;

• (b) the transport of radioactive material in a vehicle which—

• (i) is engaged in an international transport operation within the meaning of ADR,

• (ii) complies with the conditions contained in Annexes A and B to ADR, and

• (iii) is certified pursuant to ADR as complying with it;

• (c) a transport operation which is subject to a special bilateral or multilateral agreement under the terms of Article 4 of ADR to which the United Kingdom is a Contracting Party;

• (d) the transport of radioactive material which is or forms part of an instrument of war or is required for research into or development or production of any such instrument or part of such an instrument or is produced in the course of or in connection with such a development or production, when the transport is on behalf of a Department of the Government of the United Kingdom or is in connection with the execution of a contract made with any such Department;

• (e) the transport of radioactive material which is or forms part of an instrument of war when the transport is on behalf of a visiting force or is in connection with the execution of a contract made with any such force;

• (f) the transport of luminous devices worn by a person or luminous devices as part of the vehicle;

• (g) the transport in any one vehicle of no more than 500 smoke detectors for domestic use with an individual activity not exceeding 40 KBq;

• (h) the transport of gaseous tritium light devices with an individual activity not exceeding 10 GBq when no more than five such devices are transported in the vehicle.

Knowledge of radioactivity

4

These Regulations shall not apply to a person in relation to radioactive material if that person does not know or does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the material is radioactive.

General prohibitions

5

No person shall transport or cause to be transported any radioactive material except in accordance with these Regulations.

6

No person shall—

• (a) transport radioactive material in a vehicle which is a public service vehicle within the meaning of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981[^f00005] or a tramcar or trolley vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act 1988[^f00006]; or

• (b) transport radioactive material in a vehicle which is carrying any explosive substance within the meaning of the Road Traffic (Carriage of Explosives) Regulations 1989[^f00007] except under special arrangement in accordance with regulation 15; or

• (c) transport any package in a vehicle if he knows or has reason to believe that the package has or may have been damaged, unless the consignor of the package or his agent has made a declaration in the terms set out in paragraph 20 of Schedule 20 after the incident giving rise to the damage or possibility of damage, and that declaration is transported with the package; or

• (d) transport in a vehicle any packaging bearing a label described in Schedule 18 which does not correspond to the contents of that packaging.

7

No person shall be a carrier of radioactive material unless—

• (a) he is the consignor of that material; or

• (b) he holds transport documents for that material issued in accordance with regulation 27; or

• (c) the material is in the course of its first transport in Great Britain since being imported into Great Britain from Northern Ireland, and he knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe, that it meets the requirements of the Northern Ireland Regulations as to its labelling and transport documents.

8

Subject to regulation 15, no person shall transport or cause to be transported any radioactive material except—

• (a) in a package which is—

• (i) an excepted package,

• (ii) an industrial package,

• (iii) a Type A package, or

• (iv) a Type B package,

and which is also, if the radioactive material is fissile material and the package does not fall within Schedule 8, a fissile package; or

• (b) unpackaged LSA-I or SCO-I, in accordance with the conditions prescribed in paragraph 3 of Schedule 10.

9

• (a) No person shall transport or cause to be transported any other goods in a tank which is being or has at any time been used for the storage or transport of radioactive material.

• (b) No person shall transport or cause to be transported any liquid radioactive material in a tank unless—

• (i) the tank opening is above the level of the liquid; and

• (ii) the piping or pipe connections of the shell walls are below the level of the liquid.

General obligation

10

The consignor and the carrier of radioactive material in a vehicle, and the driver of the vehicle, shall exercise reasonable care to ensure that the material shall not, in the course of transport, cause any injury to health, or any damage to property or to the environment.

Tampering with, and securing of, packages

11

• (1) No person shall wilfully damage, or open without reasonable cause, any package in the course of transport.

• (2) No person other than the carrier of radioactive material shall remove the material from the vehicle transporting it while in the course of transport, or alter the position of any package in the vehicle, except in accordance with the instructions of the carrier, the consignor or the consignee, or for reasonable cause.

• (3) The carrier of any package shall exercise all reasonable care to ensure that the package is secured against unlawful removal from the vehicle transporting it and is securely stowed in the vehicle during transport.

Tampering with labels

12

No person shall—

• (a) remove without reasonable cause from a package in the course of transport any label attached to or warning sign or mark displayed on or within the package in accordance with the requirements of these Regulations, or wilfully deface any such label, sign or mark; or

• (b) remove without reasonable cause from a vehicle carrying radioactive material any label, notice, placard or plate carried by that vehicle in accordance with the requirements of these Regulations, or wilfully deface any such label, notice, placard or plate.

Contents limits

13

Subject to regulation 15, no person shall transport or cause to be transported any package unless the quantity of radioactive material in the package is within the contents limits specified for that type of package in Schedule 16.

Transport Index (TI) limits

14

• (1) No person shall transport or cause to be transported any package, overpack, tank, freight container or unpackaged LSA-I or SCO-I unless the Transport Index (TI) for that item has been determined by the consignor in accordance with Schedule 17.

• (2) Subject to regulation 15, no person shall transport or cause to be transported any package or overpack with a Transport Index (TI) greater than 10 except under exclusive use.

• (3) No person shall transport or cause to be transported in a conveyance any radioactive material (other than a consignment consisting entirely of LSA-I material) if the total sum of the Transport Indexes (TI) of the packages, overpacks, tanks and freight containers aboard that conveyance is greater than 50, except under exclusive use.

• (4) No person shall transport or cause to be transported in a conveyance under exclusive use any packages or overpacks containing fissile material if the total sum of the Transport Index (TI) of such packages or overpacks is greater than 100.

Special arrangement

15

• (1) Radioactive material whose transport is otherwise prohibited by regulation 8 or 13 or prohibited except under exclusive use by regulation 14(2) may be transported under special arrangement with multilateral approval.

• (2) Approval may not be given by the Secretary of State to the transport of a consignment by special arrangement unless the provisions for such transport are adequate to ensure that the overall level of safety in transport and in-transit storage is at least equivalent to that which would have been achieved if all the applicable requirements of these Regulations had been met.

• (3) Application for approval by the Secretary of State of a shipment under special arrangement shall be made in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 28.

• (4) The approval of a shipment by the Secretary of State under this regulation shall be given by the issue of a special arrangement approval certificate.

• (5) The approval by the competent authority of another state of a shipment under special arrangement shall be evidenced by a special arrangement approval certificate issued by that competent authority.

Radiation level limits for consignments under exclusive use

16

No person shall transport or cause to be transported any consignment under exclusive use unless the radiation level of the consignment is within the limits specified in Schedule 32.

Special form radioactive material

17

• (1) No person shall transport or cause to be transported any special form radioactive material without unilateral approval of the design for that material.

• (2) Where the design for special form radioactive material originates in the United Kingdom, application for the approval of the design by the Secretary of State shall be made in accordance with Schedule 22.

• (3) The approval by the Secretary of State of a design for special form radioactive material shall be given by the issue of a special form radioactive material approval certificate.

• (4) Where the design for special form radioactive material originated in a state other than the United Kingdom, unilateral approval of the design shall be evidenced by a special form radioactive material approval certificate issued by the competent authority of the state of origin of the design.

Fissile material

18

• (1) No person shall transport or cause to be transported any fissile material, other than fissile material contained in a package falling within Schedule 8, without multilateral approval of the package design for that material.

• (2) Application for the approval of a package design for fissile material by the Secretary of State shall be made in accordance with Schedule 24.

• (3) The approval by the Secretary of State of a package design for fissile material shall be given by the issue of a certificate, and the approval by another competent authority of a package design for such material shall be evidenced by a certificate issued by that authority.

Type B(U) packages

19

• (1) No person shall transport or cause to be transported any Type B(U) package without unilateral approval of the package design for that package or, in the case of a package containing fissile material and requiring approval under regulation 19(1), multilateral approval of the package design for that package.

• (2) Application for approval of a package design for a Type B(U) package by the Secretary of State shall be made in accordance with Schedule 25.

• (3) The approval by the Secretary of State of a package design for a Type B(U) package shall be given by the issue of a certificate stating that the package design meets the requirements of Schedule 13.

• (4) The approval by a competent authority other than the Secretary of State of a package design for a Type B(U) package shall be evidenced by a certificate issued by that authority stating that the package design meets requirements equivalent to those of Schedule 13.

Type B(M) packages

20

• (1) No person shall transport or cause to be transported any Type B(M) package without multilateral approval of the package design for that package.

• (2) Application for approval of a package design for a Type B(M) package by the Secretary of State shall be made in accordance with Schedule 26.

• (2) The approval by the Secretary of State of a package design for a Type B(M) package shall be given by the issue of a certificate stating that the package design meets the requirements of Schedule 14.

• (4) The approval by a competent authority other than the Secretary of State of a package design for a Type B(M) package shall be evidenced by a certificate issued by that authority stating that the package design meets requirements equivalent to those of Schedule 14.

Contamination levels

21

• (1) The non-fixed contamination on the external surfaces of package shall be kept as low as reasonably practicable and, under conditions likely to be encountered in routine transport, shall not exceed the levels spedified in Table III of Schedule 36.

• (2) Except as provided in paragraph (5), the level of non-fixed contamination on the external and the internal surfaces of overpacks, freight containers and tanks shall not exceed the limits specified in Table III of Schedule 36.

• (3) A conveyance and equipment used routinely for the transport of radioactive material shall be periodically checked to determine the level of contamination. The frequency of such checks shall be related to the likelihood of contamination and the extent to which radioactive material is transported.

• (4) Except as provided in paragraph (5), any conveyance, or equipment, or part thereof which has become contaminated above the limits specified in Table III of Schedule 36 or which shows a radiation level in excess of 5 μ Sv/h, in the course of the transport of radioactive material shall be decontaminated as soon as possible and shall not be re-used unless the non-fixed radioactive contamination does not exceed the levels specified in Table III of Schedule 36, and the radiation level resulting from the fixed contamination on surfaces after decontamination is less than 5 μ Sv/h.

• (5) An overpack, freight container or conveyance dedicated to the transport of LSA material or SCO under exclusive use shall be excepted from the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (4) solely with regard to its internal surfaces and only for as long as it remains under that specific exclusive use.

Saving and transitional provision for designs approved under earlier international regulations or under previous Regulations

22

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, notwithstanding the provisions of regulations 18 to 20, or regulation 41, packaging whose construction begins before 1st January 1996 and which is manufactured to a design approved by a competent authority under the 1973 edition of the “Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material” published by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna 1973, Safety Series No. 6 (STI/PUB 323), the 1973 (as amended) edition of those Regulations, published by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna 1979, Safety Series No. 6 (ISBN 92-0-623179-0), or the Regulations revoked by these Regulations may continue to be used in the transport of radioactive material.

• (2) The use of any packaging falling within paragraph (1) shall require multilateral approval.

• (3) Before use, any packaging falling within paragraph (1) shall be legibly and durably marked with a serial number assigned in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of Schedule 18.

• (4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply where changes which have been made in the design of the packaging or in the nature or quantity of the authorised radioactive contents are likely to affect safety.

Shipments requiring approval

23

• (1) No person shall send or make a shipment of any of the following without multilateral approval of the shipment:

• (a) a Type B(M) package especially designed to allow controlled intermittent venting;

• (b) a Type B(M) package containing radioactive material with an activity greater than 3×10³ A₁ or 3×10³ A₂, as appropriate, or 1000 TBq, whichever is the lower;

• (c) packages containing fissile materials if the sum of the Transport Indexes (TI) of the individual packages exceeds 50.

• (2) Application for approval by the Secretary of State of a shipment falling within paragraph (1) shall be made in accordance with Schedule 27.

• (3) The approval of a shipment by the Secretary of State under this regulation shall be given by the issue of a certificate.

• (4) The approval of the competent authority of another state of a shipment shall be evidenced by a certificate issued by that competent authority.

Quality assurance programmes

24

• (1) It shall be the duty of the designer, manufacturer, consignor, carrier and user of any package, packaging or special form radioactive material to establish and maintain an adequate quality assurance programme to ensure that he complies with the requirements of these Regulations in relation to the design, manufacture, testing, documentation, use, maintenance, inspection, transport and in-transit storage of that package, packaging or material.

• (2) Where these Regulations require a design or a shipment to be approved by the Secretary of State, no such approval shall be given until the Secretary of State is satisfied as to the adequacy of the quality assurance programme for that design or shipment.

• (3) It shall be the duty of the designer, manufacturer, consignor and user of any package design, when so requested by the Secretary of State:

• (a) to provide the Secretary of State with facilities to inspect the packaging during construction and use;

• (b) to demonstrate to the Secretary of State that the construction methods and materials used for the construction of the packaging are in accordance with the approved design specifications; and

• (c) to demonstrate to the Secretary of State that all packagings or special form radioactive material built to an approved design are periodically inspected and, as necessary, repaired and maintained in good condition so that they continue to comply with all the requirements of these Regulations, even after repeated use; and

• (d) in the case of a design specification which has been fully implemented, to produce a certificate to that effect to the Secretary of State.

Test procedures

25

• (1) Any test required of a package or special form radioactive material by or under these Regulations shall be made in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 5 of Part III, and Part IV, of Schedule 15.

• (2) The Secretary of State may require such additional tests as he considers necessary to be made on any package or special form radioactive material required by these Regulations to be tested.

Retention and production of information

26

• (1) The consignor of any consignment shall retain for 2 years from the date on which the transport of that consignment begins any information in his possession derived from measurements of contamination of that consignment.

• (2) The designer, manufacturer, owner and user of any package, packaging or special form radioactive material shall retain any information in his possession relating to the design, manufacture, testing, use and maintenance of that package, packaging or material, including (without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing) specifications, calculations, test results, quality assurance programmes and manufacturing records, for so long as the package, packaging or material is in use for the transport of radioactive material.

• (3) An inspector may require the designer, manufacturer, owner, consignor or user of any package, packaging or special form radioactive material to produce such information in his possession relating to that package, packaging or material as the inspector may specify.

Transport documents

27

• (1) The consignor of any consignment for transport, other than a consignment comprising excepted packages only or a consignment in respect of which he holds a regular consignment certificate under regulation 28, shall, before the transport begins, give to the carrier of the consignment or, where the consignor is the carrier, to the driver of the vehicle in which the consignment is to be transported, the following transport documents:

• (a) a document meeting the requirements of Schedule 20; and

• (b) a statement for the carrier in accordance with Schedule 21, covering all the radioactive material in the consignment.

• (2) The consignor of a consignment comprising excepted packages only shall, before the transport begins, give to the carrier of the consignment or, where the consignor is the carrier, to the driver of the vehicle in which the consignment is to be transported a document containing the information listed in paragraphs 2, 3, 7 and 15 of Schedule 20 and the declaration listed in paragraph 20 of that Schedule covering all the radioactive material in the consignment.

• (3) The consignor of any consignment shall, on request, make available to the carrier for inspection before the loading, unloading or any transshipment of the consignment all certificates of approval required by these Regulations for the transport of the consignment.

• (4) No consignor shall prepare a package for shipment until he has in his possession a copy of each certificate of approval required by these Regulations for the shipment, and a copy of the instructions for the proper closing of the package and other preparations for shipment.

• (5) The consignor of any consignment falling within paragraph (1) or (2) shall retain a copy of the document described in paragraph (1)(a) or, as the case may be, paragraph (2), or a record of the number and type of packages and the total number of transport indexes for each package type consigned for 2 years from the date on which the transport of that consignment begins.

Transport documents for regular consignments

28

• (1) Where the same packaging with the same radioactive contents is consigned as a package on a regular basis by the same consignor, who is also the carrier of that package, the Secretary of State may issue a regular consignment certificate for that package in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 35.

• (2) The consignor of any package in respect of which he holds a current regular consignment ceritificate issued under paragraph (1) shall carry in the vehicle in which the consignment is transported a document containing a statement that the consignment is covered by a regular consignment certificate issued under this regulation, the date and contents of that certificate, a record (including destinations and dates) of all consignments made under that certificate, and an expiry date for the document not later than 3 months after the date of the declaration contained in that certificate.

• (3) The consignor of any package falling within paragraph (2) shall retain a copy of the document described in paragraph (2), or a complete record of the contents of that document, for 2 years from the date on which the transport of that package begins.

Production of documents

29

An examiner, an inspector or a constable in uniform may require the carrier of any radioactive material or the driver of any vehicle transporting radioactive material to produce for inspection such documents relating to that material and required by these Regulations as the examiner, inspector or constable may specify.

Marking, labelling and placarding

30

• (1) Except where the consignment consists solely of excepted packages, the consignor of any consignment for transport shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs 1 to 8 of Schedule 18 and the carrier of the consignment shall comply with paragraphs 9 to 16 of that Schedule.

• (2) Any placards or plates required by paragraph (1) to be displayed on the vehicle shall be removed when the vehicle is no longer transporting the consignment to which they relate.

Package inspection prior to shipment

31

• (1) No person shall send or make the first shipment of any package unless the package meets the requirements of Schedule 29.

• (2) No person shall send or make any shipment of any package unless the package meets the requirements of Schedule 30.

Stowing for transport

32

• (1) The carrier of any consignment shall comply with the requirements of Schedule 33 as to stowing for transport.

• (2) No carrier shall load a conveyance for transport in such a way that the radiation level under conditions likely to be encountered in routine transport exceeds 2 mSv/h at any point on, or 0.1 mSv/h at 2 metres from, the external surface of the conveyance.

Notification of competent authorities

33

• (1) No consignor shall make the first shipment of any package requiring the approval of any competent authority under these Regulations until copies of each approval certificate required for the package design of that package have been submitted to the competent authority of each state through or into which the consignment is to be transported.

• (2) No consignor shall make any shipment:

• (a) of a Type B(U) package containing radioactive material with an activity greater than 3×10³ A₁ or 3×10³ A₂, as appropriate, or 1000 TBq, whichever is the lower;

• (b) of a Type B(M) package; or

• (c) comprising transport under special arrangement, without giving notice in accordance with Schedule 31 to the competent authority of each state through or into which the consignment is to be transported.

Restrictions on travel in vehicles transporting radioactive materials

34

• (1) No person shall travel in a vehicle which is transporting radioactive material unless:

• (a) he is the carrier of the material or travels with the permission of the carrier of the material;

• (b) he travels in a personnel compartment; and

• (c) the material is transported in a goods compartment.

• (2) No person except the driver and his assistant or assistants may travel in a vehicle transporting a package, overpack, tank or freight container bearing category II-YELLOW or III-YELLOW labels in accordance with Schedules 18 and 19.

• (3) In this regulation reference to travelling in a vehicle transporting a package, overpack, tank or freight container shall, where the vehicle transporting the package, overpack, tank or freight container is a trailer, include reference to the vehicle by which the trailer is drawn.

• (4) Except where a vehicle is solely transporting a consignment of excepted packages, to which the provisions of marginal 10 240 (1)(a) shall apply, no person shall travel in a vehicle which is transporting radioactive material unless the vehicle is equipped with firefighting appliances in accordance with marginal 10 240 of ADR.

• (5) Paragraph (4) shall not apply where no more than 10 packages are transported in one vehicle at any one time and the sum of the Transport Indexes (TI) for the packages does not exceed 3.

Storage in transit

35

The carrier of any consignment shall comply with the requirements of Schedule 34 as to storage of the consignment in transit.

Duties of driver during transport

36

The driver of a vehicle transporting radioactive material:

• (a) shall exercise reasonable care to ensure that none of the material shall in the course of transport be lost, or escape or be unlawfully removed from the vehicle or from any package;

• (b) shall not without reasonable cause leave the vehicle unattended in a place to which the public has access;

• (c) shall not park the vehicle for a continuous period of longer than one hour in any place, unless when it is parked there is a clear space of at least 2 metres on both sides and at both ends of the vehicle, or unless the only radioactive material in the vehicle is contained in excepted packages, industrial packages or Type A packages bearing category I-WHITE labels in accordance with Schedules 18 and 19; and

• (d) keep on the vehicle the transport document issued in accordance with regulation 27 or 28 until the package to which the document relates has been delivered to the consignee.

Undeliverable consignments

37

The carrier of any consignment which proves to be undeliverable shall place it in a safe location, inform the Secretary of State as soon as possible and ask for his approval of further action.

Duties of driver and carrier in the event of an incident

38

• (1) The driver of a vehicle transporting radioactive material who discovers or has reason to believe that:

• (a) any of that material has been lost, escaped or unlawfully removed from the vehicle; or

• (b) any package carried by the vehicle has been opened or otherwise damaged whether or not the package is still in or on the vehicle; or

• (c) the vehicle has overturned (including being turned on its side), or has suffered serious damage, or is involved in a fire,

shall immediately notify the police and the consignor.

• (2) A carrier of radioactive material in a vehicle who becomes aware of an incident falling within paragraph (1) shall immediately notify the police, the Secretary of State and the consignor of the incident (unless the driver of the vehicle has already done so) and shall as soon as reasonably practicable arrange for the examination of the load carried in the vehicle so as to determine whether radioactive contamination has occurred, and if it has, arrange for the safe disposal of any part of the load which has been contaminated and cause the vehicle to be decontaminated.

• (3) A package which has been involved in an incident falling within paragraph (1) shall not be transported or caused to be transported unless the consignor or his agent has examined it, he is satisfied that it still complies with the requirements of these Regulations and he issues a certificate to that effect.

Notification and registration of serial numbers

39

• (1) The manufacturer of any packaging manufactured after the date of these Regulations to a design approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 18(3), 19(3) or 20(3) or falling within regulation 22(1) shall promptly notify the Secretary of State of the serial number assigned to that packaging.

• (2) The owner of any other packaging manufactured to a design approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 18(3), 19(3) or 20(3) or falling within regulation 22(1) shall promptly notify the Secretary of State of the serial number assigned to that packaging.

• (3) The Secretary of State shall maintain a register of the serial numbers notified to him under paragraphs (1) and (2).

Evaluation of radiation emissions

40

For the purpose of ensuring that the transport of radioactive material does not cause any injury to health, or any damage to property or to the environment, the Secretary of State shall arrange for periodic assessments to be carried out to evaluate the radiation emissions arising from such transport.

Revocation of existing Regulations

41

The Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) (Great Britain) Regulations 1974[^f00008] and the Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) (Great Britain) (Amendment) Regulations 1985[^f00009] are hereby revoked.

SCHEDULE 1 — Determination of A₁ and A₂ values

1

Values of A₁ and A₂ for individual radionuclides are those given in Table I of Schedule 36.

2

For individual radionuclides whose identities are known, but which are not listed in Table I of Schedule 36, the determination of the values of A₁ and A₂ shall require the approval of the Secretary of State or, for international transport, multilateral approval. Alternatively, the values of A₁ and A₂ in Table II of Schedule 36 may be used without obtaining competent authority approval.

3

In the calculations of A₁ and A₂ for a radionuclide not in Table I of Schedule 36, a single radioactive decay chain in which the radionuclides are present in their naturally occurring proportions and in which no daughter nuclide has a half-life either longer than 10 days or longer than that of the parent nuclide shall be considered as a single radionuclide, and the activity to be taken into account and the A₁ or A₂ value to be applied shall be those corresponding to the parent nuclide of that chain. In the case of radioactive decay chains in which any daughter nuclide has a half-life either longer than 10 days or greater than that of the parent nuclide, the parent and such daughter nuclides shall be considered as mixtures of different nuclides.

4

An A value for a mixture of radionuclides whose identities and respective activities are known may be determined as follows:

• (a) for special form radioactive material:

$A1for mixture=1∑if(i)A1(i)$

• (b) for other forms of radioactive material:

$$A2for mixture=1∑if(i)A2(i)$ where f(i) is the fraction of activity of nuclide in the mixture and A₁(i) and A₂(i) are the respective A₁ and A₂ values for nuclide i.$

5

When the identity of each radionuclide is known but the individual activities of some of the radionuclides are not known, the radionuclides may be grouped and the lowest A₁ or A₂ value, as appropriate, for the radionuclides in each group may be used in applying the formulae in paragraph 4 above. Groups may be based on the total alpha activity and the total beta/gamma activity when these are known, using the lowest A₁ or A₂ values for the alpha emitters or beta/gamma emitters, respectively.

6

For individual radionuclides or for mixtures of radionuclides for which relevant data are not available, the values shown in Table II of Schedule 36 shall be used.

SCHEDULE 2 — General requirements for packages and packaging

1

A package shall be so designed in relation to its mass, volume and shape that it can easily and safely be handled and transported and so that it can be properly secured in or on the conveyance during transport.

2

The design of a package shall be such that any lifting attachments on it will not fail when used in the intended manner and such that, if failure of the attachments should occur, the ability of the package to meet other requirements of these Regulations would not be impaired, taking into account appropriate safety factors to cover snatch lifting.

3

Any attachment or other feature on the outer surface of a package which could be used to lift it but is not designed to support its mass in accordance with paragraph 2 above shall be removed or otherwise rendered incapable of being used during transport.

4

As far as reasonably practicable, packaging shall be so designed and finished that the external surfaces are free from protruding features and can easily be decontaminated.

5

As far as reasonably practicable, the outer layer of a package shall be so designed as to prevent the collection and retention of water.

6

No feature, not forming an integral part of a package, shall be added to the package at the time of transport if it will reduce the safety of the package.

7

A package shall be capable of withstanding the effects of any acceleration, vibration or vibration resonance which may arise under conditions likely to be encountered in routine transport without any deterioration in the effectiveness of the closing devices on the various receptacles or in the integrity of the package as a whole, and in particular nuts, bolts, and other securing devices shall be so designed as to prevent them from becoming loose or being released unintentionally, even after repeated use.

8

The materials of packaging and any components or structures thereof shall be physically and chemically compatible with each other and with the radioactive contents, taking into account their behaviour under irradiation.

9

All valves through which radioactive contents could otherwise escape shall be protected against unauthorised operation.

10

A package shall not contain any other items except such articles and documents as are necessary for the use of the radioactive material. This requirement shall not preclude the transport of LSA material or SCO with other items. The transport of such articles and documents in a package, or of LSA material or SCO with other items may be permitted, provided that there is no interaction between them and the packaging or its contents that would reduce the safety of the package.

11

The transport of other goods with consignments being transported under exclusive use shall be permitted provided the arrangements are controlled only by the consignor and it is not prohibited by any other provision of these Regulations.

12

In addition to the radioactive properties, any other dangerous properties of the contents of a package, such as explosiveness, flammability, pyrophoricity, chemical, toxicity, corrosiveness and (as in the case of UF₆) the possibility of the formation of products having dangerous properties by interaction of the contents with the atmosphere or with water shall be taken into account.

13

Except for packages or overpacks transported under exclusive use under the conditions specified in paragraph (a) of Schedule 32 the maximum radiation level at any point on any external surface of a package or overpack shall not exceed 2 mSv/h.

14

The following additional requirements shall apply to overpacks:

• (a) Packages of fissile material for which the transport index for nuclear criticality control is 0 and packages of non-fissile radioactive material may be combined together in an overpack for transport, provided that each package contained therein meets the applicable requirements of these Regulations.

• (b) No package of fissile material for which the transport index for nuclear criticality control exceeds 0 shall be carried in an overpack.

• (c) Only the original consignor of the packages contained within an overpack shall be permitted to use the method of direct measurement of radiation level to determine the Transport Index (TI) of a rigid overpack.

SCHEDULE 3 — Requirements for excepted packages of limited activity

1

The package shall comply with paragraphs 1 to 9 and 12 of Schedule 2.

2

If the package contains fissile material it must fall within one of the paragraphs of Schedule 8.

3

The radiation level at any point of the external surface of the package shall not exceed 5 μ Sv/h.

4

The non-fixed contamination on any external surface of the package shall not exceed the levels specified in Table III of Schedule 36.

5

Radioactive material which is not enclosed in or forming a component part of an instrument or manufactured article may be transported in an excepted package if the activity of the material does not exceed the limit specified in column 4 of Table IV of Schedule 36 for material in that physical state.

6

The package shall retain its contents under conditions likely to be encountered in routine transport.

7

The package shall bear the marking “Radioactive” on an internal surface in such a manner that a warning of the presence of radioactive material is visible on opening the package.

8

If the gross mass of the package exceeds 50 kg, the permissible gross mass shall be legibly and durably marked on the outside of the packaging.

SCHEDULE 4 — Requirements for excepted packages containing instruments or other manufactured articles

1

The radioactive material shall be enclosed in or form a component part of an instrument or other manufactured article.

2

The package and its packaging shall comply with Schedule 3.

3

The activity of the instruments or articles, and of the package, shall not exceed the limits specified in columns 2 and 3 respectively of Table IV of Schedule 36.

4

The radiation level at 10 cm from any point on the external surface of any unpackaged instrument or article shall not exceed 0.1 mSv/h.

5

Each instrument or article (except radioluminescent time-pieces or devices) shall bear the marking “Radioactive”.

6

In the case of a manufactured article in which the sole radioactive material is unirradiated natural uranium, unirradiated depleted uranium or unirradiated natural thorium, the outer surface of the uranium or thorium must be enclosed in an inactive sheath made of metal or some other substantial material.

SCHEDULE 5 — Requirements for excepted packages which are empty packagings

1

The package and its packaging shall comply with Schedule 3.

2

The package shall be in a well maintained condition and securely closed.

3

The outer surface of any uranium or thorium in the structure of the package shall be covered with an inactive sheath made of metal or some other substantial material.

4

The level of internal non-fixed contamination shall not exceed one thousand times the levels specified in Table III of Schedule 36.

5

Any labels which may have been displayed on the package in conformity with paragraph 5 of Schedule 18, must no longer be visible.

SCHEDULE 6 — Requirements for special form radioactive material

1

Special form radioactive material shall have at least one dimension not less than 5 mm.

2

Special form radioactive material shall be of such a nature or shall be so designed that if it is subjected to the tests specified in Part II of Schedule 15, it meets the following requirements:

• (a) it would not break or shatter under the impact, percussion and bending tests in paragraphs 4, 5, 6 and 8(a) of that Part of that Schedule as applicable;

• (b) it would not melt or disperse in the heat test in paragraphs 7 and 8(b) of that Part of that Schedule as applicable; and

• (c) the activity in the water from the leaching tests specified in paragraphs 9 and 10 of that Part of that Schedule would not exceed 2 kBq; or alternatively for sealed sources, the leakage rate for the volumetric leakage assessment test specified in the ISO leak test document would not exceed the applicable acceptance threshold acceptable to the Secretary of State.

3

When a sealed capsule constitutes part of the special form radioactive material, the capsule shall be so constructed that it can be opened only by destroying it.

SCHEDULE 7 — Requirements for packages containing fissile material

1

Fissile material shall be packaged and shipped in such a manner that subcriticality is maintained under conditions likely to be encountered during normal and accident conditions of transport. The following contingencies shall be considered:

• (a) Water leaking into or out of packages;

• (b) The loss of efficiency of built-in neutron absorbers or moderators;

• (c) Possible rearrangement of the radioactive contents either within the package or as a result of loss from the package;

• (d) Reduction of spaces between packages or radioactive contents;

• (e) Packages becoming immersed in water or buried in snow; and

• (f) Possible effects of temperature changes.

2

A packaging for fissile material shall be so designed that, if it were subjected to the tests specified in paragraphs 6–11 of Part III of Schedule 15:

• (a) Neither the volume nor any spacing on the basis of which nuclear criticality control for the purpose of paragraph 6(a) has been assessed would suffer more than 5% reduction, and the construction of the packaging would prevent the entry of a 10 cm cube; and

• (b) Water would not leak into or out of any part of the package unless water in-leakage into or out-leakage from that part, to the optimum foreseeable extent, has been assumed for the purposes of paragraphs 5 and 6; and

• (c) The configuration of the radioactive contents and the geometry of the containment system would not be altered so as to increase the neutron multiplication significantly.

3

For the purposes of this Schedule the following words have the following meanings:

• “undamaged”, in relation to a package, means the condition of the package as it is designed to be presented for transport; and

• “damaged”, in relation to a package, means the evaluated or demonstrated condition of the package if it had been subjected to whichever of the following combination of tests is the more limiting— the tests specified in paragraphs 6–11 of Part III of Schedule 15 followed by the tests specified in paragraphs 13 to 15 of that Part of that Schedule and completed by the tests specified in paragraphs 18–20 of that Part of that Schedule (the mechanical test of paragraph 14 of that Part of that Schedule shall be that required by paragraph 8 of Schedule 12); or the tests specified in paragraphs 6–11 of Part III of Schedule 15 followed by the test in paragraph 16 of Part III of Schedule 15.

4

In determining the subcriticality of individual packages in isolation for the purposes of this Schedule, it shall be assumed that water can leak into or out of all void spaces of the package, including those within the containment system. However, if the design incorporates special features to prevent such leakage of water into or out of certain void spaces, even as a result of human error, absence of leakage may be assumed in respect of those void spaces. Special features shall include the following:

• (a) Multiple high standard water barriers, each of which would remain leaktight if the package were damaged; a high degree of quality control in the production and maintenance of packagings; and special tests to demonstrate the closure of each package before shipment; or

• (b) Other features given multilateral approval.

5

The individual package damaged or undamaged shall be subcritical under the conditions specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 taking into account the physical and chemical characteristics including any change in those characteristics which could occur when the package is damaged and with the conditions of moderation and reflection as specified below:

• (a) For all material within the containment system: the material arranged in the containment system

• (i) in the configuration and moderation that results in maximum neutron multiplication; and

• (ii) with close reflection of the containment system by water 20 cm thick (or equivalent) or such greater reflection of the containment system as may additionally be provided by the surrounding material of the packaging; and, in addition

• (b) If any part of the material escapes from the containment system: that material arranged in

• (i) the configuration and moderation that results in maximum neutron multiplication; and

• (ii) with close reflection of that material by water 20 cm thick (or equivalent).

6

An array of packages shall be subcritical. A number, “N” shall be derived assuming that if packages were stacked together in any arrangement with the stack closely reflected on all sides by water 20 cm thick (or its equivalent) both of the following conditions would be satisfied:

• (a) Five times “N” undamaged packages without anything between the packages would be subcritical; and

• (b) Two times “N” damaged packages with hydrogenous moderation between packages to the extent which results in the greatest neutron multiplication would be subcritical.

7

In evaluating the subcriticality of fissile material in its transport configuration, the following shall apply:

• (a) The determination of subcriticality for irradiated fissile material may be based on the actual irradiation experience, taking into account significant variations in composition.

• (b) For irradiated fissile material of unknown irradiation experience the following assumptions shall be made in determining subcriticality:

• (i) If its neutron multiplication decreases with irradiation, the material shall be regarded as unirradiated;

• (ii) If its neutron multiplication increases with irradiation, the material shall be regarded as irradiated to the point corresponding to the maximum neutron multiplication; and

• (c) For unspecified fissile material, such as residues or scrap, whose fissile composition, mass, concentration, moderation ratio or density is not known or cannot be identified, the assumption shall be made in determining subcriticality that each parameter that is not known has the value which gives the maximum neutron multiplication under credible conditions of transport.

SCHEDULE 8 — Packages excepted from the requirements for fissile material

1

A package containing individually not more than 15 g of fissile material, provided that its smallest external dimension is not less than 10 cm. For unpackaged material, the quantity limitation applies to the consignment being carried in or on the conveyance.

2

A package containing homogeneous hydrogenous solutions or mixtures satisfying the conditions listed in Table XII of Schedule 36. For unpackaged material, the quantity limitations in Table XII of Schedule 36 shall apply to the consignment being transported in or on the conveyance.

3

A package containing uranium enriched in uranium-235 to a maximum of 1% by mass, and with a total plutonium and uranium-233 content not exceeding 1% of the mass of uranium-235, provided that the fissile material is distributed essentially homogeneously throughout the material; provided also that if uranium-235 is present in metallic, oxide, or carbide forms, it does not form a lattice arrangement within the package.

4

A package containing not more than 5 g of fissile material in any 10 litre volume, provided that the radioactive material is contained in packages which will maintain the limitations on fissile material distribution under conditions likely to be encountered during routine transport.

5

A package containing individually not more than 1 kg of total plutonium, of which not more than 20% by mass may consist of plutonium-239, plutonium-241, or any combination of those radionuclides.

6

A package containing liquid solutions of uranyl nitrate enriched in uranium-235 to a maximum of 2% by mass, with a total plutonium and uranium-233 content not exceeding 0.1% of the mass of uranium-235, and with a minimum nitrogen to uranium atomic ratio (N/U) of 2.

SCHEDULE 9 — Requirements for industrial packages

PART I — Requirements for an industrial package Type 1 (IP-1)

An industrial package Type 1 (IP-1) is a packaging, tank or freight container containing LSA material or an SCO that meets the requirements of Schedule 2 and—

• (a) has a smallest overall external dimension of not less than 10 cm., and

• (b) meets the requirements of Schedule 10.

PART II — Requirements for an industrial package Type 2 (IP-2)

An industrial package Type 2 (IP-2) is a packaging, tank or freight container containing LSA material or an SCO that meets the requirements of Schedules 2 and 10 and—

• (a) in the case of a package, its smallest overall external dimension is not less than 10 cm, and, if it were subjected to the tests specified in paragraphs 9 and 10 of Part III of Schedule 15 or alternatively to the tests specified for packaging group III in the Dangerous Goods Recommendations, it would prevent:

• (i) the loss or dispersal of the radioactive contents; and

• (ii) the loss of shielding integrity which would result in more than a 20% increase in the radiation level at any external surface of the package; or

• (b) in the case of a tank container it is:

• (i) designed to conform to the standards prescribed in Chapter 12 of the Dangerous Goods Recommendations, or other requirements at least equivalent to those standards, and are capable of withstanding a test pressure of 265 kPa; and