Transport of radioactive substances
Transport of radioactive substances is considered use of radiation under the Radiation Act. For transport of high-activity sealed sources by road and rail, you also need a safety licence issued by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority.
The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) inspects transport arrangements and grants approvals to transport packaging and transport by special arrangements. Transport includes all actions included in and related to the transport of radioactive substances. These include, for example:
- design, manufacture, maintenance and repair of packaging
- preparation, shipment, loading and transport of loads and packages containing radioactive substances
- temporary interruptions due to transport conditions
- unloading and reception at the destination.
All undertakings engaged in the transport of dangerous goods on a regular basis must appoint a safety adviser to supervise and guide the transport operations and to investigate ways in which the tasks related to the transport of dangerous goods can be carried out as safely as possible. The duties of the safety adviser include provision of advice and monitoring regulatory compliance in the company. The safety adviser must pass a special examination arranged by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom).
The undertaking shall ensure that all workers engaged in radiation practices or whose tasks otherwise require special expertise in radiation protection are in possession of the qualifications, radiation protection education and training, and induction to their duties required by the practices and the tasks.
The undertaking shall also ensure that workers engaged in radiation practices are provided with sufficient and regular supplementary training on radiation protection. Further provisions on regular supplementary radiation protection training and the content thereof are given by a decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The undertaking shall keep a worker-specific record of the radiation protection training for which it is responsible.
In road transport, the carrier of radioactive substances must, as a rule, hold an ADR driving licence that covers radioactive substances. In certain cases, the ADR driving licence for radioactive substances may be replaced by so-called awareness training. However, drivers must receive suitable, appropriate and adequate training on the requirements for the transport of radioactive substances. The training has to provide them with sufficient information on the radiation risks related to the transport of radioactive substances. The awareness training must be certified by a certificate issued by the employer.
If the consignment is being prepared for air transport, for example, the packager and the consignor must have a specific qualification for the transport of dangerous goods by air.
For more information on driving licences and training, visit Traficom’s website.
The parties involved in the transport must have a management system in place to ensure that staff training is up to date and that the packaging manufactured and used complies with the requirements. The management system must cover, where applicable, all transport-related activities. As the use of radiation is usually part of a larger practice, it would be sensible to integrate matters related to radiation safety into the management system for the entire operations.
The IAEA Guide TS-G-1.4 The Management System for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material deals with the management system in a very broad manner and, as such, may not be suitable for an undertaking. However, some parts of the guide might nevertheless be applicable.
An undertaking has to have a radiation protection programme in place to ensure the radiation safety of workers and the general public. The scope and accuracy of the radiation protection programme depends on the scope of the transport activity, and the programme can be a part of the management system, for example.
Traficom's regulation on road transport (TRAFICOM8213303.04.03.002019, Appendix A, section 1.7.2) lays down the minimum requirements for a radiation protection programme. The measures used in the programme and their extent must be proportional to the magnitude and likelihood of radiation exposure.
The radiation protection programme must include at least:
- instructions for minimising radiation exposure
- if necessary, individual monitoring or monitoring of working conditions (radiation workers)
- training of the employees
- the separation of packages during transport when necessary.
The IAEA has published a guide on the contents of the radiation protection programme, TS-G-1.3 Radiation Protection Programmes for the Transport of Radioactive Material. Based on the guide, a radiation protection programme typically consists of the following parts:
- scope of application in the company
- roles and division of responsibilities within the company
- dose caused by the work
- applicable dose constraints / dose optimisation
- surface contamination measurements
- segregation of packages, for example during temporary storage
- emergency instructions
- training
- quality assurance.
In general, not all of the above matters need to be addressed if the transport operations only cause small radiation doses to the workers. Estimating the dose is the company’s responsibility. The company has to be able to justify the estimate to the regulatory authority, such as STUK, when necessary.
For more information on how to estimate doses, contact your company's safety adviser or STUK.
Radioactive substances belong to Class 7 in the legislation on the transport of dangerous goods. STUK regulates the transport of radioactive substances primarily on the basis of the legislation on the transport of dangerous goods and the Radiation Act.
Cross-border transport is also governed by international agreements, such as ADR (road transport), RID (rail transport), ICAO-TI (technical instructions for air transport) and IMDG (maritime transport).
STUK has published a guide titled Radioaktiivisten aineiden kuljetus (Transport of radioactive substances, 2012, in Finnish), which contains basic information on the transport requirements from the perspective of the parties involved in the transport. The transport of radioactive substances also involves obligations on security arrangements. These are described in STUK’s guide Turvajärjestelyt radioaktiivisten aineiden tiekuljetuksissa (Security arrangements in the transport of radioactive substances by road, 2015, in Finnish). Both guides are written from the perspective of road transport. However, the basic principles also apply to other modes of transport (maritime and air).
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has published several guides on transport regulations. These are available in English on the IAEA website.
- Radiation Act 859/2018 (finlex.fi)
- Government Decree on Ionizing Radiation (Annex 5) (finlex.fi)
- Act on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (719/1994) (finlex.fi)
- Radioaktiivisten aineiden kuljetus [Transport of radioactive substances] (STUK opastaa, syyskuu 2012) (Julkari.fi, in Finnish)
- Turvajärjestelyt radioaktiivisten aineiden tiekuljetuksissa [Security arrangements in the transport of radioactive substances by road] (Stuk opastaa, June 2015) (Julkari.fi, in Finnish)
- Transport guides published by the IAEA (iaea.org)
- Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom (Traficom.fi)
Transport of high activity sealed sources
Road and rail transport of high-activity sealed sources requires a safety licence pursuant to the Radiation Act. The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) must be notified of the transport in advance. A sealed source means a radiation source containing a radioactive substance, the structure or properties of which prevent the radioactive substance from spreading into the environment under planned conditions of use. A sealed source has a unique identifier and a certificate that certifies that it meets the standards for sealed sources. A sealed source is classified as high activity if the amount of radioactivity exceeds the nuclide-specific limit value set out in Appendix 1 to Regulation STUK S/5/2019. All transport of radioactive substances is subject to the Act on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (719/1994; VAK Act).