Transport of radioactive material within facilities not involving public roads or railways

IAEA Regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material establish standards of safety which provide an acceptable level of control of the radiation, criticality and thermal hazards to persons, property and the environment that are associated with the transport of these dangerous goods. These Regulations apply to the transport of radioactive material by all modes on land, water or in the air, including transport which is incidental to the use of the radioactive material. Through the worldwide adoption of these regulations for all modes of transport, a very high standard of safety in transport has been achieved. However these regulations do not apply to radioactive material moved within a facility which is subject to appropriate safety regulations in force in the establishment and where the movement does not involve public roads or railways. In France, nuclear research centres and industrial complexes comprise numerous facilities spread out over many acres. For instance, the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) Centres comprise various Basic Nuclear Installations (experimental reactors, laboratories), used for research and development activities in the nuclear field. Research is focused notably on the lifetime of operating plants, future reactors, fuel performances or nuclear waste. Likewise, the nuclear fuel processing plant operated by COGEMA at La Hague sprawls over approximately 2 km. An investigation carried out by the Institute for Nuclear Safety and Protection has revealed that over 20,000 packages containing more than one hundred A2 are shipped internally every year, taking all the complexes and centres as a whole. The French Safety Authority, which has been responsible for monitoring the shipment of radioactive materials since 1997, has therefore decided to review the internal shipment rules devised by the various sectors of industry. Generally speaking, the safety authority is requiring that justification be given for the differences between these rules and the regulations that apply to shipments travelling by public highway, which serve as a reference. The Safety Authority has also asked that beyond a certain threshold (i.e. a set quantity of fissile and/or radioactive material), licensees submit a safety file with a view to approving packages for internal shipment. It should be possible to approve all the packages concerned within around five years.