Restructuring the IAEA Transport Regulations

The present IAEA Transport Regulations (1985, as amended 1990) total four separate documents. Only the first of these contains the actual Regulations: IAEA Safety Series 6, Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (IAEA 1990a). A further three documents are then required to provide Explanatory Material (IAEA 1990b ), Advisory Material (IAEA 1990c), and a Schedule of Requirements (IAEA 1990d). More recently these four documents have been supplemented by Safety Guides and Safety Practices on emergency planning, compliance assurance, and quality assurance; however, the above four documents form the core ofthe Transport Regulations. The graded approach to contents limits for packages and conveyances contained within the Transport Regulations has provided an excellent world-wide safety record for radioactive materials transport. But the organisation and presentation of the Regulations cause problems to users. These uncertainties in understanding and implementing the Regulations are increasing with each revision; ultimately, this could have an adverse impact on safety. Without wishing to make any changes to the technical content of the existing Regulations, this paper proposes a strategy for change to a more understandable form of presentation. Since the current round of revisions is almost complete and new regulations will be released in 1996, now is an ideal time to be considering changes aimed at the next revision appearing in 2005-06.