The Radioactive Material (Road Transport) (Great Britain) Regulations 1996

Regulation 2(1)

SCHEDULE 2 General requirements for packages and packaging

1.  A package shall be so designed in relation to its mass, volume and shape that it can easily and safely be handled and transported and so that it can be properly secured in or on the conveyance during transport.

2.  The design of a package shall be such that any lifting attachments on it will not fail when used in the intended manner and such that, if failure of the attachments should occur, the ability of the package to meet other requirements of these Regulations would not be impaired, taking into account appropriate safety factors to cover snatch lifting.

3.  Any attachment or other feature on the outer surface of a package which could be used to lift it but is not designed to support its mass in accordance with paragraph 2 above shall be removed or otherwise rendered incapable of being used during transport.

4.  As far as reasonably practicable, packaging shall be so designed and finished that the external surfaces are free from protruding features and can easily be decontaminated.

5.  As far as reasonably practicable, the outer layer of a package shall be so designed as to prevent the collection and retention of water.

6.  No feature, not forming an integral part of a package, shall be added to the package at the time of transport if it will reduce the safety of the package.

7.  A package shall be capable of withstanding the effects of any acceleration, vibration or vibration resonance which may arise under conditions likely to be encountered in routine transport without any deterioration in the effectiveness of the closing devices on the various receptacles or in the integrity of the package as a whole, and in particular nuts, bolts, and other securing devices shall be so designed as to prevent them from becoming loose or being released unintentionally, even after repeated use.

8.  The materials of packaging and any components or structures thereof shall be physically and chemically compatible with each other and with the radioactive contents, taking into account their behaviour under irradiation.

9.  All valves through which radioactive contents could otherwise escape shall be protected against unauthorised operation.

10.  A package shall not contain any other items except such articles and documents as are necessary for the use of the radioactive material. This requirement shall not preclude the transport of LSA material or SCO with other items. The transport of such articles and documents in a package, or of LSA material or SCO with other items may be permitted, provided that there is no interaction between them and the packaging or its contents that would reduce the safety of the package.

11.  The transport of other goods with consignments being transported under exclusive use shall be permitted provided the arrangements are controlled only by the consignor and it is not prohibited by any other provision of these Regulations.

12.  In addition to the radioactive properties, any other dangerous properties of the contents of a package, such as explosiveness, flammability, pyrophoricity, chemical, toxicity, corrosiveness and (as in the case of UF₆) the possibility of the formation of products having dangerous properties by interaction of the contents with the atmosphere or with water shall be taken into account.

13.  Except for packages or overpacks transported under exclusive use under the conditions specified in paragraph (a) of Schedule 32 the maximum radiation level at any point on any external surface of a package or overpack shall not exceed 2 mSv/h.

14.  The following additional requirements shall apply to overpacks:

(a) Packages of fissile material for which the transport index for nuclear criticality control is 0 and packages of non-fissile radioactive material may be combined together in an overpack for transport, provided that each package contained therein meets the applicable requirements of these Regulations.

(b) No package of fissile material for which the transport index for nuclear criticality control exceeds 0 shall be carried in an overpack.

(c) Only the original consignor of the packages contained within an overpack shall be permitted to use the method of direct measurement of radiation level to determine the Transport Index (TI) of a rigid overpack.