CNSC’s Regulatory Efforts for Improvement in Response to Transport Related Incidents

Canada is a major producer and shipper of radioactive material. Each year more than a million packages are safely transported in Canada. The safety record with the transport of radioactive material in Canada has historically been excellent; there have never been any serious injuries, overexposures or fatalities, or environmental consequences attributable to the radioactive nature of such material being transported or being involved in a transport accident. In Canada, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is the agency of the federal government entrusted with regulating all nuclear facilities and nuclear-related activities, including the packaging and transport of nuclear substances. The CNSC’s Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations (PTNSR) 2015, which govern radioactive materials transport, are based on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s SSR-6 Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material. Notwithstanding the demonstrated safe transport of nuclear material in Canada, the CNSC is committed to continuous improvement in its regulatory oversight. To that end, any transport-related event reported to the CNSC is tracked and reviewed for any lessons to be learned that may affect regulatory provisions. This paper presents four case studies highlighting more severe transport-related incidents that happened in the last decade in Canada, and describes the CNSC response to these incidents, including lessons learned. The paper then presents the initiatives taken by the CNSC in improving its response to transport-related incidents or accidents.