Developing Transport Regulator Capacity on a Regional Basis

Over 20 million shipments of radioactive material occur each year and this number is expected to increase as more countries develop their healthcare and industrial programmes that include the use of radioactive material.Safety during transport is assured by complying with the requirements of the IAEA Specific Safety Requirements SSR-6 which are adopted into the UN Model Regulations and the international modal regulations for transport by air and sea. There are no international regulations for land transports (road and rail) and therefore each country has to develop itsown national regulations based upon SSR-6 requirements or the UN Model Regulations.The IAEA currently has 168 Member States that have transport regulatory infrastructures ranging from mature to very limited. For appropriate levels of safety during transport to be assured it is essential a regulatory infrastructure that includes effective regulator oversight exists in each of the countries through or into which radioactive material is transported. Inaddition it is recognized that shipments are already taking place in most countries of the world and therefore the challenge is to develop the transport regulator capacity in each country to enable each to provide the appropriate levels of transport regulator oversight in the shortest possible timescales.The combination of shipments taking place, limited resources and implementation of regulator oversight in the near term has led the IAEA to adopt a regional approach to help Member States to build collaborative networks of transport regulators. The regional programmes, which are IAEA Technical Cooperation funded with extra budgetary funding from the European Commission are being managed by the IAEA Transport Safety Unit (TSU) and cover the regions of Africa, Asia and Pacific, Latin America and the Mediterranean Region representing the involvement of over 80 Member States.This paper will provide an insight into the approach being used, the countries involved, and the practical approach to regulator oversight being developed.