Safety Regulation for the Transport of Radioactive Materials in Korea

Currently in Korea, there are 20 commercial nuclear power plants in operation and six additional nuclear reactors are under construction. And also there are more than 1800 organizations utilizing radioisotopes for industrial, medical and research purposes. In November 2005, Korean government designated a geological repository site for the disposal of medium and low level radioactive waste. As the use of nuclear energy and application of radioisotopes steadily increase in Korea, the volume of radioactive materials, such as nuclear materials, radioisotopes, radioactive waste, transport is also rapidly increasing in recent years. The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) is the Korean competent authority responsible for the safe transport of radioactive materials and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) is performing practical regulatory activities to support the MOST. Regarding the transport of radioactive materials, all types of transport such as land, sea and air transport, are regulated by the MOST and the KINS. The governing regulation for the use of nuclear energy including safe transport of radioactive materials is the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) and the AEA consists of four parts; the AEA, the Enforcement Decree of the AEA, the Enforcement Regulation of the AEA, and the Notice of the MOST. Specific issues including regulatory requirements and technical standards for the safe transport of radioactive materials are described in the Notice of the MOST. These regulations apply to every step of packaging approval and package handling, such as packaging design, manufacturing, inspection, maintenance and package preparation, loading, carriage, storage, unloading etc. The AEA and the related Notices of the MOST are consistent with the IAEA regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material 1996 edition (Revised) No. TS-R-1. Amendment to the national transport safety regulations is being considered in line with the up-todate IAEA transport regulations and relevant international regulations