A Successful and Effective Transportation Program for the Shipment of Type A and Type B Quantities of Radioactive Material

There are several requirements that make up a successful global transportation program for radioactive materials. This starts with a management system that oversees and supports detailed program elements. Management System requirements are well detailed in certain publications such as IAEA guidelines and NRC regulations and in a more general manner in other regulations such as CNSC and ADR. A successful and effective program must be aligned with the individual company and the various roles they fulfill in the transport chain. Nordion is a world leader in the manufacture of sealed sources for industrial and medical applications. We have an extensive fleet of Type B and Type A packages that are approved for use around the world. Our transportation program must cover many areas of the transport chain from receipt of raw materials and components to transport of finished goods and waste from our facilities. It spans the transport package life-cycle from design to decommissioning. First and foremost our Management System must align with the requirements of our facility license issued by the CNSC. It must be integrated within our CNSC issued License Condition Handbook, our ISO 9001 and 13485 certification and our QA Program for Safety. The Management System must support all elements of the transportation program. This presentation will discuss key elements of Nordion’s transport program and management system. It will highlight our practices and how they follow a graded approach with respect to detail and oversight. I will discuss how our program has been implemented, how it is assessed and how adjustments to the program have made as required. This presentation will serve as a working example of how a transport program and its overseeing management system are matched with the requirements of a sealed source manufacturer/distributor.