Revision of the Belgian Legislation for the Transport of Radioactive Material

Currently, the transport of radioactive material in Belgium is governed by chapter VII of the GRR [1]. This current license-based system, dating from 1963, has contributed to the safe and secure record that we have achieved in Belgium so far but we are convinced that a simplification of the current system is necessary.The main goal of the revision of the Belgian legislation for the transport of radioactive material is to evolve from a license-based system combining reporting and notification with inspections toward a new system mainly based on registration with limited reporting and notifications and only a limited number of licenses being required after registration. This new system will focus on inspections and compliance audits in order to ensure compliance with the national and international regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material. It should reduce the administrative burden for the FANC (Federal Agency for Nuclear Control) and its stakeholders involved in the transport of radioactive material on the Belgian territory (designers and manufacturers of packages, organizations in charge of the maintenance and repair of packaging, consignors, carriers, consignees).On the other hand, it is of crucial importance that this change in our way of working does not affect the safe, secure and sustainable transport of all radioactive material throughout our territory. Furthermore, this new legislation should not impact our knowledge of who is carrying what, when and under which conditions within the Belgian borders.The project started up in January 2013 and consists of 2 subprojects: on the one hand the drafting of the new legislation and the preparation for the implementation, and on the other hand the new organization of the Import & Transport Section within the FANC, the Belgian regulator. We chose for an integrated project dealing with all aspects related to the development and implementation of a new regulatory framework. One senior expert, within the Import & Transport Section, was assigned as Project Manager for this ambitious project. This paper will discuss the most important aspects considered in this challenging project as well as the stakeholder involvement process, with the sector, during the draft and development stage including the operationalisation, and the lessons learned from this project. We will also detail the content of the new Belgian legislation for the transport of radioactive material and the new organisation of the FANC’s Import & Transport Section within the Nuclear Security & Transport Department.