1. South Australian Nuclear Royal Commission Topic 14: Transportation of Radioactive Materials Case Study – Australian UOC shipment
Frank Boulton
Class 7 International Pty Ltd
Australasian representative for the World Nuclear Transport Institute
November 17th 2015

2. We all enjoy the use of Class 7 materials
Throughout our daily life we all have access to and can enjoy benefits derived from the application of radioactive and nuclear materials across the:
health and medical industry
manufacturing, engineering, construction related industries
electric power generation industry
Class 7 is simply one of nine classes of Dangerous Goods

3. Framework for the transport of radioactive materials
Governed by a stringent regulatory regime involving standards, codes and regulations
continuously revised and updated over the past five decades
UN adopts the IAEA guidance on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
the IAEA Transport Regulations for RAM apply almost everywhere in the world
a set of recommended regulatory standards covering international transport activities involving RAM
Supplementary guidance documents contain advisory and explanatory material
describing the reason for the regulations, their purpose along with information explaining how to comply with the regulations
Additional guidance documents provide practical advice about
transport management systems and plans and response to transport incidents
development of radiation protection programs, and compliance assurance programmes

4. Assessment of material to be transported
ISO with drums
Quantity of material in the package kg
18,000
Largest cross-sectional area of package in square metres
15.74
ppm ThO2
48,000
ppm U
2,300
Max gamma dose rate* at surface (uSv/h)
81.30
Max gamma dose rate* at 1m (uSv/h)
37.40
Material contains natural Uranium and Thorium (YES / NO)
YES
Activity in Th232 decay chain (Bq/g)
200.0
Activity in U238 decay chain (Bq/g)
28.8
Activity in U235 decay chain (Bq/g)
1.15
Weighted avg of U and Th (Head of chain) Bq/g
228.8
Transport exemption (10* factor)
22.88
Is the material LSA-1 (para.409)
Material to be transported
ISO with drums
Is the material radioactive (above 1Bq/g)
YES
Does the 10 times transport exemption apply? NO
Is the consignment an Excepted Package (para. 516)
Total Activity Th232 (and 10 decay products) (Bq/g)
2000.0
Total Activity U (and 14 decay products) (Bq/g)
402.5
Total Activity U and Th plus decay products (Bq/g)
2402.5
TI Multiplication Factor from Table 7 3
Transport Index
11.2
Does the TI of the package call for “exclusive use”
Category of package as per table 8
III YELLOW
Description
bq/gm
ppm U
ppm Th
Radioactive material limit 1 80
240
Transport Exemption limit 10
800
2400
*The above gamma dose rates have been estimated using first principles based on a 20 foot ISO shipping container having dimensions of 6m x 2.6m x 2.4m loaded with 20 tonnes of material. As such these measurements MUST be confirmed by in field measurements

5. Filling of drums

6. Detailed manifest information
Comprises detailed drum and batch related information for each shipping container
details in green flow through to summarised delivery and container packing list
manifest also provides radiation dose rate information for each drum

7. Detailed manifest information
Provides a singular overview of the total quantity of RAM packed in each shipping container
information in green flows to the Multimodal DG form, yellow for safeguards transfer
the manifest also provides radiation dose rate information per shipping container

8. Securing of drums in shipping containers

9. Some examples of container packing
205 litre re-sealable steel drums secured in 20’ ISO containers shipped as full container loads under exclusive use

10. Inspection of shipping containers pre and post packing
Container inspection is an important process
exacerbated by increased focus on Convention for Safe Containers (CSC) compliance and United States Customs Trade Protection Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) requirements
addresses IMDG multimodal requirements and obligations

11. Straight forward safeguards and export approval processes
Apply for ASNO safeguards transfer of RAM
simple form, by
Apply for DIS export of strategic commodity
simple spreadsheet format, by
Receive approvals from both parties
notification by
Lodge export declaration with ACS
standard customs cargo clearance, lodged electronically
Notify safeguards after vessel departs with cargo on board
simple , then track and monitor through to final destination
safeguards reconciliation following agreement of assay exchange

12. Multimodal Dangerous Goods Form
Form covers all road, rail and ocean transport
Delivery information
standardised shipping details
DG, Hazmat related information
includes emergency and incident response
Packing declaration
legally enforceable document

13. Stowage on vessel

14. Vessel departs

15. Monitoring of cargo from mine site to final overseas destination
tracking and tracing of cargo is monitored by Consignor reporting to ASNO

16. Minor scrape of container packed with UOC
Bumps and scrapes often occur during temporary in-transit storage

17. Damage to container packed with UOC

18. Damage to container packed with UOC