Transportation of radioactive materials - Safety and regulation

The transport of radioactive substances forms a special sector of the transport of dangerous goods. It concerns substances with specific hazardous properties, due to their radioactivity, and safety must be ensured. The main risks involved in transporting radioactive substances are as follows:

• the risk of inhalation or ingestion of radioactive particles in the event of a release of radioactive substances;

  the risk of external irradiation of persons in the event of deterioration of the protection against ionizing radiation built into the packages;

• environmental contamination in the event of a release of radioactive substances;

• the start-up of an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction (criticality risk) that could cause serious radiation exposure to people, in the presence of water and the uncontrolled presence of fissile radioactive substances.

Radioactive substances can also be toxic or corrosive. Taking these risks into account means that package behavior must be controlled to avoid any release of material or damage to package protection. Safety in the transport of radioactive substances therefore relies first and foremost on the package, which must be designed to withstand routine transport conditions, as well as incidental and accidental conditions. Beyond the package, and in line with defense-in-depth principles, transport safety also depends on the reliability of transport operations and crisis management in accident situations.