COMPETENT AUTHORITY APPROVAL OF PACKAGE DESIGNS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Type B packages and all packages containing fissile material, as well as special fonn materials, special arrangements and certain shipments, are required to be ·approved by the Competent Authority. In the United Kingdom this function is carried out on behalf of the Secretary of State by the Radioactive Materials Transport Division of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (RMTD). Competent Authority approval is given only after a detailed assessment of the design by the specialist staff of RMTD. There are three facets to the assessment procedure, namely engineering, criticality and radiation protection, and quality assurance. The engineering assessor ensures that the designer has demonstrated the integrity of the containment and shielding systems under the regulatory conditions. The criticality assessor examines criticality safety in detail, and together with the engineering assessor, decides whether this is maintained under regulatory conditions. The quality assurance assessor verifies that the applicant has the necessary controls in place to ensure that the design and operational requirements are met. The applicant is responsible for making the case for approval, but the assessment is facilitated if the Competent Authority is involved with the designer at an early stage in development and during the construction of the test prototype. Central to the approval process is the regulatory test programme, which is designed and carried out by the applicant, but agreed and witnessed by representatives of RMTD. Following the test programme, the applicant submits a fonnal application, supported by the Design Safety Report, which provides a full analysis of the design and the test results, including the behaviour of the package under nonnal and accident conditions of transport, the manufacturing and maintenance procedures, quality assurance and the emergency provisions for the operation of the package. RMTD produces a comprehensive Guide to Applications, which details the infonnation required in all types of application for Competent Authority approval in the United Kingdom.