Guidance for Package Approvals in the United Kingdom

Approval is required under the transport regulations for a wide range of package designs and operations, and applications for competent authority approval and validation are received from many sources, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. To assist package designers and applicants for approval, and to promote consistency in applications and their assessment, the UK Department for Transport issues guidance on the interpretation of the transport regulations and the requirements of an application for approval and its supporting safety case. The general guidance document, known as the \"Guide to an Application for UK Competent Authority Approval of Radioactive Material in Transport\", has been issued for many years and updated to encompass the provisions of each successive edition of the IAEA transport regulations. The Guide has been referred to in a number of international fora, including PATRAM, and was cited as a \"Good Practice\" in the report of the IAEA TRANSAS Appraisal of the UK in 2002. Specialist guides include the Guide to the Suitability of Elastomeric Seal Materials, which is the subject of a separate paper in this conference, and the Guide to the Approval of Freight Containers as Types IP-2 and IP-3 Packages. This paper discusses the guidance material and summarises the administrative and technical information required in support of applications for approval of package designs, special form and low dispersible radioactive materials, shipments, special arrangements, modifications and validations.