ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY ASSURANCE MEASURES FOR RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL TRANSPORT PACKAGES NOT REQUIRING COMPETENT AUTHORITY DESIGN APPROVAL

The majority of transports of radioactive materials are carried out in packages which don’t need a package design approval of a competent authority. Low active radioactive materials are transported in such packages e.g. in the medical and pharmaceutical industry and in the nuclear industry as well. In Germany the decision to phase out nuclear energy leads to a strong demand for packages to transport low and middle active radioactive waste due to the dismantling and decommissioning of nuclear power plants. According to IAEA regulations the “non-competent authority approved package types” are the excepted packages and the industrial packages of Type IP-1, IP-2 and IP-3 and of Type A. For these types of packages an assessment by the competent authority is required for the quality assurance measures (IAEA SSR 6, § 306). Their regulatory level in the IAEA regulations is not comparable with the regulatory density for packages requiring competent authority design approval. Practices in different countries lead to different approaches within the assessment of the quality assurance measures in the management system as well as in the quality assurance program of a special package design. To use the package or packaging in a safe manner and in compliance with the regulations a management system for each phase of the life of the package or packaging is necessary. The relevant IAEA-SSR6 § 801 requires documentary verification by the consignor concerning package compliance with the requirements. It is important to distinguish between the manufacturer of the packaging and the user of the packaging who loads it and, as consignor, provides it as a package for transportation. Depending on responsible acting persons the regulations give different obligations. A lot of problems can occur at this interface, especially in globalized markets.