Technical complements: What is the regulatory framework for the transport?

Regulations applying exclusively to the carriage of radioactive materials

The principle regulations are the IAEA — Safety Series, Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials 1985 as amended 1990. These regulations govern the package design in order to ensure the safety of people and the environment in extreme accident conditions, regardless of the mode of transport. The regulations which the IAEA have established have been agreed by international experts representing 127 member countries of the IAEA. The regulations are widely regarded as being extremely rigorous and have led to an impressive record of safety. These regulations also specify appropriate marking and labelling for packages and the requirements for securing the cargo to the vessel's structure.

The safety of all transportation operations lies primarily in the package. The packages must therefore fulfil extremely stringent requirements. This is particularly important as most nuclear transport operations will involve different modes of transport at different stages of a journey. The protection provided by the packaging is therefore designed to reflect the potential hazard of the nuclear material being transported and has led to the development of various types of packaging. The regulations define three packaging categories and the corresponding design criteria takes account of the physical and chemical nature of the particular material, together with its radioactivity and radiotoxicity:

  • industrial packages,
  • Type A packages,
  • Type B packages, required for the transport of high level waste, spent fuel and other high activity material. To be licensed, they must undergo stringent testing as recommended by the IAEA and prescribed by French and Japanese regulations.
    These recommendations and regulations are periodically re-assessed.

The compulsory tests for Type B packages, set out in the IAEA recommendations, are particularly stringent. They include drop tests of the cask as well as tests aimed at establishing the cask resistance to fire and submersion. All these tests are far more demanding than staged accidents. As an example, in 1984 a demonstration was carried out where a 140 tonne train, travelling at 100 miles an hour, was driven into a cask. Although dramatic, this crash made only one-third of the impact that a cask would receive from the series of IAEA tests. The train was completely destroyed but the cask received only superficial damage. In a special fire test a cask was placed over burning fuel for 90 minutes at temperatures reaching 1,400 degrees centigrade on the cask's surface but it did not break and the water inside the cask did not overheat.

Ship design and operation: regulatory requirements

The sea transport vessel design meets the requirements of the regulations issued by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Domestic legislation has also been established in the UK, France and Japan which derives from IMO Conventions and IMO Codes. These regulations are applied to all types of ships and collectively they cover just about every aspect of ship design and operation. PNTL complies with all these regulations and the requirements of the Japanese Ministry Of Transport (JMOT) and the British and French competent Authorities.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations set standards for the safe operation of vessels, encompassing a vessel's subdivision, stability, machinery, electrical installation, fire protection, fire detection, fire extinction, life saving, radio communication, safety of navigation and carriage of dangerous goods for all vessels.

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) regulations protect the marine environment from pollution by vessels. MARPOL regulations require that a report is made to the nearest coastal State of any incident involving the loss or likely loss overboard of any dangerous or polluting goods. Any serious threat to a vessel's safety would also have to be reported under these regulations.

The IMO consults expert organisations when it requires specialist advice in drafting its instruments: the IAEA gives expert advice on radioactive materials. The IAEA regulations were adopted by the IMO to form those parts of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code applicable to radioactive materials.

PNTL also complies with the requirements of the IMO's International Safety Management Code (ISM Code), even though there is no statutory requirement to do this until the year 2002. The ISM Code establishes safety management objectives which are to provide for safe practices in ship operation and a safe working environment, to establish safeguards against all identified risks, to continuously improve safety management skills of personnel.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) recognises the principles of the right of innocent passage through territorial seas and the freedom of navigation beyond. Article 23 of the same Convention also lays down that inter alia, vessels carrying nuclear substances must carry documents and observe special precautionary measures when exercising the right of innocent passage through territorial seas. PNTL adheres strictly to the requirements of the UNCLOS.

PNTL also complies with mandatory reporting regulations applying to vessels traversing the territorial waters of individual states. For example, all vessels bound for or leaving European Union ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods are required to report certain information to a competent authority, a nominated agent and the port authorities concerned. The information contains details of the ship and its condition, cargo and time of arrival.
The French "CROSS" system requires vessels carrying dangerous cargoes to provide information on the ship, cargo, route and time schedule, 6 hours prior to entry into territorial waters if their destination is a French port. Thereafter, the vessel must report any incidents or defects which may affect her safety.

Regulatory controls and inspections

Throughout its operating life, each cask is subject to a series of regulatory controls and inspections:

  • after the completion of the design, the cask receives a certificate of approval from the regulatory bodies,
  • each cask manufactured is registered,
  • before each shipment, the transport casks are inspected. The methods and criteria of inspection are provided for in the Safety Analysis Report of the vitrified residues transport casks approved by the French and Japanese Safety Authorities. They are performed by COGEMA at La Hague. Inspection items include: visual inspection of the cask, visual inspection of trunnions after lifting, residual surface contamination measurement, dose rate inspections, surface temperature measurement, leaktightness, pressure measurement,
  • a programme of periodic inspections associated with a maintenance plan is set up.
    It includes: checking at each loading and unloading time, yearly maintenance, basic maintenance every 3 years and major maintenance every 6 years.

Release: December 1998