The 1996 Revision of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material

To keep the IAEA 's Transport Regulations (IAEAa) abreast of recent scientific and technological developments, a major review of the Regulations takes place at intervals of approximately 10 years. This time interval allows international organizations and Member States to schedule rule-making activities regarding the revised Regulations while maintaining an acceptable level of regulatory stability. In continuation of this process, the 1985 edition of the Regulations is being followed by a 10- year review process which will lead to the next edition of the Regulations in 1996. A large group of experts, known as the Revision Panel, instructs the Secretariat on the drafting of the revised Regulations and their supporting documents (IAEAb, IAEAc). Four meetings of the Panel have been held for the revision of the 1985 (As Amended 1990) version of the Regulations. Drafts of the revised regulations were circulated to all Member States for comment following the second and third Revision Panels and formal comments on the drafts were considered by the subsequent Revision Panel meetings. Additionally, a third draft was prepared just prior to the fourth Revision Panel to assist in evaluation of all of the recommendations made by Technical Committees and Consultants Services Meetings held after the third Revision Panel. The fourth and final draft was prepared based on the results of the fourth and final Revision Panel. This paper presents information on the most significant revisions which have been incorporated into the final draft of the 1996 Regulations.