The need to adapt the IAEA regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material (RAM) to evolutions in use and technology of transport conveyances

The technologies and means of transport used for the carriage of goods by sea and air have considerably evolved in recent decades whereas criteria and regulatory requirements concerning the limitation of radioactive material on board ships or aircraft, originating for most the part in the 1970s and 1980s, have not followed this trend. Container shipping by sea has become the predominant means of transport, and sea vessel sizes continue to increase. Air freight transport is increasingly provided by passenger airliners, and cargo-only aircraft are now, in most cases, derivatives of passenger aircraft adapted for transport of cargo. Land vehicles and wagons adapted to transport of standard containers have now become widely available. With the evolution in the means of transport, the need to update regulatory criteria and requirements currently in force has become more and more necessary, especially those concerning the Transport Index (TI) and Criticality Safety Index (CSI) limits and the definition of exclusive-use shipment conditions for the transport of radioactive material. The different types of transport conveyances proposed by airline and marine shipping companies for international carriage of freight and the main evolutions of these conveyances in recent decades are presented in this paper. Amendments for updating the regulatory requirements in line with these evolutions are proposed and discussed so as to improve transport operations and reduce their cost without reducing the level of safety. (author)