THE CONTROL OF THE TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL BY AIR IN FRANCE

300,000 packages of radioactive material are carried each year in France. About 50, 000 of these packages are consigned by air. Most of this traffic concerns small-size packages containing limited or very limited quantities of radioactive material (type A or excepted packages) for medical use. Some shipments of high activity sources for medical use, or fissile material for research reactors, are also listed. The Nuclear installations safety directorate (DSIN) has been responsible since June 12, 1997 for the control of the safe transport of radioactive material for civil use. In this context, DSIN has frequent contacts with the government department dealing with civil aviation (General Directorate for civil aviation – DGAC). An agreement was cosigned between the DSIN and DGAC which defines the responsibilities of both departments. Schematically, in this new organization, the DSIN became responsible for all aspects concerning the safety of the package, while DGAC remained in charge of all technical controls with the airplane and airline operator. As of 1996, during the adoption process of the new IAEA TS-R- 1 (ST-1 revised) regulations, France already supported additional provisions aimed at facilitating package recovery in the case of the transport of high activity material involved in airplane accidents. Anticipating the date the modal regulation became mandatory in July 2001, deviations to the technical instructions of the International civil aviation organization (ICAO) were issued by France in 1999. Inspections where carried on the most important airport terminals, in connection with the civil aviation authority, aiming at the supervision of the application of the regulation. These inspections allowed the Nuclear safety authority to discover a very complex traffic path where many intermediate players are involved besides the carrier. Each year handling incidents occurring at airports are reported to DSIN. Most of them are concerning the deterioration of type A or excepted packages, generally without radiological impact. More recently, loss of packages during transport focuses the attention of the authorities. With a view to remedying the situation observed, DSIN and DGAC have organized training sessions for their inspectors and information meetings with airline operators and their technical assistance companies.