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Australian Dangerous Goods Code Class 7 - Radioactive Materials

Introduction

The Australian Dangerous Goods Code is a classification system for the transport of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail within Australia. Class 7 deals with Radioactive Material which is defined in the ADG Code as:

“Radioactive material is defined as any material for which the specific activity is greater than 70kBq/kg (0.002μCi/g). In this context, specific activity means the activity per unit mass of radionuclide or, for a material in which the radionuclide is essentially uniformly distributed, the activity per unit mass of the material”

Furthermore it is noted that:

“the requirements relating to the transport of radioactive substances are in addition to any other law of a State or Territory or the Commonwealth relating to the transport of those substances, including the Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Substances”

Code of Practice Safe Transport of Radioactive Material

The Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (2008) is given as an additional reference to the ADG Code. It provides regulations specific to transport of Radioactive Material Australia-wide via road, rail and waterways, with air transport being dealt with in the Civil Aviation Act 1988 and international waterways under the jurisdiction of the Navigation Act 1912 . The Code of Practice is broken up into 8 Sections:

Section 1: Introduction

Radioactive materials require special care in their handling and management due to the possibility of radioactive contamination. The Code of Practice for Safe Transport of Radioactive Material provides a regulatory framework based on the requirements made by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the Australia-wide transport of Radioactive Material. The regulations aim to protect the community, individuals and the environment from possible radiation exposure during the transport of Radioactive Material by providing provisions for prevention, containment and control. The regulations take a graded approach in terms of the resultant danger under routine transport (incident free), normal transport (minor mishaps) and accident conditions of transport. Exceptions exist, most notably where radioactive material is an integral part of the power system for the transport itself (e.g. nuclear submarines), where radioactive material has been implanted into an individual for the purpose of treatment of a medical condition, where radioactive material is part of a consumer product where approval has already been gained, and where radioactive material is present in natural minerals or ores in their natural state, not mined for the purposed of obtaining radionucleotides.

Section 2: Definitions

This section is very similar to Section I of the ADG Code, providing general definitions of terms to be used throughout the code. Of particular note are :

• A1 – “activity value of special form radioactive material”
• A2 – “activity value of radioactive material, other than special form radioactive material”
• Competent authority - “any national or international regulatory body or authority designated or recognised as such for any purpose in connection with these Regulations”
• Special form radioactive material – “either an in dispersible solid radioactive material or a sealed capsule containing radioactive material”

Section 3: General Provisions

In this section, safety and protection of persons exposed to radioactive material is addressed, as well as measures of the likelihood of the dose level affecting the individual and surroundings. The Radiation Protection Programme focuses on the far measures required at the time of transport, in order to ensure safe individual and workplace exposure to radioactive material. Emergency response procedures are provided in the form of emergency provisions or guidelines from national and international organizations. These are recommended to be considered in the event of an accident for the protection of persons and the environmental surroundings.

All factors such as design, testing, manufacturing, maintenance, storage, transport, etc. that are involved in the production of the radioactive material pass through a quality assurance program. This standard based program is checked and certified by the competent authority to ensure quality control.

Compliance assurance and non compliance is again the responsibility of the competent authority whom assures compliance via the creating and maintaining programs related to manufacture, testing, documentation, etc. When a non compliance accident occurs such as contamination or a change in regulatory limits of the radioactive material occurs, the consigner and his workers (carrier, consignee, etc) have to be informed of the non-compliance upon receipt of the goods. All information of the causes, results, circumstances, measures and also actions that led to the non compliance has to be provided to the consigner and the competent authority.

Individuals involved in the processing and transport of the radioactive material must undergo a training program to understand the regulations, methods, materials and equipment used for successful transport of radioactive material. Each individual is to have an awareness and understanding of regulations and description of the radioactive material, transport requirements as well as safety while transporting, packing, and processing and at an accidental event.

Section 4: Activity Limits and Material Restrictions

This section involves information on radionuclide values, how to determine basic radionuclide values (if they are not given), dealing with mixtures and also information specifying contents limits for packages.

Basic radionuclide values and radionucleotide values for unknowns/mixtures are given for reference in terms of A1 and A2 (in TBq), activity concentration for exempt material (in Bq/g) and activity limits for exempt consignments (in Bq).

For radioactive material other than articles manufactured of natural uranium, depleted uranium or natural thorium, an excepted package is subject to activity limits determined using physical state of contents.

3 Packaging types exist for the transport of radioactive material: Type A; Type B (U) and Type B (M); Type C. Packages containing fissile material or uranium hexafluoride are subject to additional requirements. These materials must be transported in accordance to the authorized package design.

Section 5: Requirements and Controls for Transport

This section covers extensive control measures and outlines the requirements for transportation of radioactive material.

Before shipments it is required that containment systems conform to the approved design if the design pressure exceeds 35kPa. This ensures stability of the package. Type B(U), Type B(M) and Type C packages are required to be held until equilibrium conditions are achieved regarding temperature and pressure.

Transport of other goods require package segregation and if it is necessary that another good must be packaged with radioactive material, it cannot reduce the safety of the package. Consignments must also be segregated from any other dangerous good being transported. The Non-fixed contamination (can be removed during routine conditions of transport) on the external surface cannot exceed the following limits (average surface area of 300cm²)(See Radioactive decay):

• 4 Bq/cm² for β, γ, low α emitters
• 0.4 Bq/cm² for all other α emitters

If it becomes evident that a package is leaking or has been damaged, access must be immediately restricted to qualified persons only. The package thereafter can no longer be reused. Low Specific Activity (LSA) material and Surface Contaminated Object (SCO-is not itself radioactive, but has radioactive material distributed on its surface) are restricted to 10 mSv/h at a distance of 3m from the material when it is unshielded. LSA-I and SCO-I groups may be transported unpackaged as long as the radioactive contents cannot escape from the conveyance and if the conveyance is under exclusive use.

Determination and limits of Transport Index (TI) and Criticality Safety Index (CSI) are included in this section to control over radiation exposure, regarding packages, overpacks or freight containers. Except for any material being transported under exclusive use, the TI cannot exceed a value of 10 and the CSI cannot exceed a value of 50. Radiation levels for packages and overpacks requires a maximum radiation level at any point on the external surface of 2 mSv/h. This section also outlines the three packaging labels, required for display on the outside of a package during transport. The labels must have a minimum side measurement of 100mm and must contain the name of the radionuclide and the activity. Category number and TI must also be displayed. These categories are:

• I-WHITE (Maximum surface radiation of 5 μSv/h)
• II-YELLOW (Maximum surface radiation between 5 and 500 μSv/h)
• III-YELLOW (Maximum surface radiation between 500 μSv/h and 2000 μSv/h f)

Packaging groups for transport of radioactive material.

There are also various responsibilities of the consignor. They must include documents that provide identification of the consignor and consignee, including their names and addresses, the proper shipping name and the UN class number '7' and they are required to sign and date the document. Consignor must also have in their possession a copy of instructions for secure closing of the package and any other required preparations that need to be made before shipment. Lastly, transport and storage during transit require packages to be secured and segregated. Workers must be exposed to minimal radiation. Packages cannot be transported in the same vehicle as other dangerous goods or food products.

Section 6: Requirements for Radioactive Materials and for Packaging and Packages

Requirements for radioactive material:

LSA-3 material is a solid material that when immersed in water for seven days, activity will not exceed 0.1A2.

Special form radioactive material must have one of its dimensions is at least less than 5mm, and be designed in a way that when subjected to different tests such as the impact test, percussion test, ending test, heat test, the sealed capsule test and the water immersed test, it will not break, bend or change nature and it will not melt or lose content and stay strongly enclosed. The sealed capsule is manufactured in a way that is destroyed upon opening.

Low dispersible radioactive material should not exceed the following requirements for the total amount of material in the package: the level of radiation at 3m should not exceed the limit of 10mSv/h and when testing in water, the activity must not exceed 100A2.

Generally the package must be designed in a safe way to ensure it is secured during transportation. It must be able to be properly lifted and attached when transporting without risk of falling. Attachments placed at the outer surface of the package which are designed to support the mass must be able to be removed easily and safely. The external surface of the package must also be clean; not subject to contamination or collection of water. The addition to existing external features should not compromise the safety of the package. The package when transported should not be affected by outer physical effects such as vibration resonance and securing devices such as nuts or bolts which should be checked for their integrity upon repeated use. Moreover, all the materials and components used must be compatible with the contents. Finally the outer environment such as the temperature and pressure should be taken into consideration when transporting radioactive materials.

Section 7: Test Procedures

This section of the Code provides information on suitable tests that may be carried out (to the radioactive materials themselves and the packages which contain them) to ensure compliance with performance standards outlined in Section 6. A number of different tests have been developed specifically for Class 7 - Radioactive materials which include the as impact test, percussion test, bending test, heat test as well as leaching and volumetric leakage assessment methods.

• To ensure compliance the tests listed below must be carried out:
• Tests for low dispersible radioactive material
• Tests for packages
• Testing the integrity of the containment system and shielding and assessing criticality safety
• Test for packaging designed to contain uranium hexafluoride
• Tests for demonstrating ability to withstand normal conditions of transport
• Additional tests for Type A packages designed for liquids and gases
• Tests for demonstrating ability to withstand accident conditions of transport
• Enhanced water immersion test for Type B (U) and Type B(M) packages containing more than 105A2 and Type C packages
• Water leakage test for packages containing fissile material
• Tests for Type C packages

Section 8: Approval and Administration Requirements

This section highlights the requirements of administration and approval of the competent authority of each of the following: approval of special form radioactive material which require unilateral approval and low dispersible radioactive material require multilateral approval, approval of package designs, approval of type b(u) and type c package designs, approval of type b(m) package designs, approval of package designs to contain fissile material, approval of shipments and the approval of shipments under special arrangement. All the certificates for all the forms and approvals must be valid and checked by the competent authority of the country of origin of the design or shipment.

External Links

• ADG Code 7th Edition
• Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material
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