PACKAGE TESTING TO DEMONSTRATE SAFETY WITH ADDED FEATURES - Presentation

Industry has noted that there are different views in the approach about how the transport and/or handling of frames, where they exist, should be taken into account in the safety analysis. This subject is crucial when having to comply with the requirements of paragraph 611 in the 2009 Edition of the IAEA Transport Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (TS-R-1): “Any features added to the package at the time of transport which are not part of the package shall not reduce its safety”. This topic was considered in IAEA during the fifteenth meeting of the TRANsport Safety Standards Committee (TRANSSC 15) in October 2007. It was discussed during a Technical Meeting at the beginning of the year 2008 resulting in convening a Consultants Meeting in September 2008. In support of the discussions of this Consultants Meeting, members of the World Nuclear Transport Institute (WNTI) met in April 2008 to expand their common position. In the Technical Meeting held in January 2010 the output from the above meetings were further discussed and reflected in the draft of the 20xx Edition of TS-R-1, which is now subjected to the Member States and international organisations 120-day review. The paper considers the following aspects, with an industry perspective: - What are the technical and administrative difficulties when dealing with the requirements of paragraph 611 in TS-R-1 - What are the boundaries of the package. What is a feature added to the package at the time of transport - How to assure safety of transports when considering the added features - What is the outcome of the 2007 and 2009 review/revision cycle of TS-R-1 - How to go further