The magnitude and characteristics of radioactive material shipments in Germany

A survey has been conducted to determine the type, quantity, and characteristics of radioactive material transport in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, not including the former German Democratic Republic). The survey has been extended to all types of material and all modes of transport (road, rail, air, and sea). The survey results indicate that the number of radioactive material consignments totals about 445,000 per year in the FRG. The value is most representative for the later 1980s. Road transport represents the most dominant transport mode with 92% of all consignments and a total of 665,000 shipped packages. Air transport ranks second with a total number of consignments and shipped packages of 19,000 and 240,000, respectively. Most of the radioactive material shipments are related to the use of non-nuclear materials in scientific, medical, and industrial applications. The information acquired in the survey indicates that the average dose rate of packages is clearly below the limit of 0.1 mSv.h-1 at 1 m from the external package surface by about a factor of 3-20 depending on the origin/end use of the shipped material. The radioactive material transport data bases developed in the study are essential for the evaluation of the adequacy of the Transport Regulations and a useful tool for various other purposes, e.g. safety analysis purposes, by providing factual information, and as input for international data bases, e.g. the IAEA operated data base SHIPTRAM. (author)