SAFE AIR SHIPMENT OF DANGEROUS CARGO

The paper focuses on the safety issues of air shipments of radioactive material (RM). The air routes are attractive, since they provide higher RM security, can pass by populated localities and nature reserves and be used for shipments from hard-to-reach locations, to keep tight schedules, to avoid transit countries, etc. The paper analyzes safety of air shipments, provides statistics of air accidents including those during transportation of cargo by Volga-Dnepr Airlines. It demonstrates that the number of incidents and accidents in aviation has been steadily decreasing in recent years. The paper also discusses current and prospective technical and organizational measures aimed at decreasing a probability of accidents and minimizing their consequences. It summarizes experience in RRRFR shipments of irradiated and non-irradiated nuclear fuel by IL-76 and AN-124-100 aircrafts. Peculiarities of licensing, technical expertise and international support for air shipments are described. Examples of non-standard tasks for the RM shipments successfully performed by Volga-Dnepr Airlines due to its many-years’ experience are provided.