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International Atomic Energy Agency
General Conference
(Unofficial electronic version) 		GC(43)/9
2 August 1999

GENERAL Distr.
Original: ENGLISH

Forty-third regular session
Sub-item 13(b) of the provisional agenda
(GC(43)/1)

MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
IN NUCLEAR, RADIATION AND WASTE SAFETY

(b) Safety of Transport of Radioactive Materials

BACKGROUND

  1. The Board of Governors at its June 1998 session agreed to authorize the Director General to inform the General Conference that the Secretariat had prepared a report on legally binding and non-binding instruments and regulations concerning the safe transport of radioactive material and their implementation which had been considered by the Board. Some delegations, although satisfied with the report, stated that, in the light of the report's contents, they considered that further work was needed in order to elaborate ways and means whereby the Agency's Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material [the Agency's Transport Regulations] could be applied more effectively and universally. Some other delegations had stated that there was no need to change the present status of the Transport Regulations. The Board noted the fact that interested delegations could consult on the matter prior to the forty-second regular session of the General Conference*.

  2. In September 1998, in the light of the Board's discussion and following consultations among interested delegations, the General Conference adopted resolution GC(42)/RES/13 on the "Safety of Transport of Radioactive Materials". In that resolution, the General Conference, recognizing that "compliance with regulations which take account of the Agency's Transport Regulations is providing a high level of safety during the transport of radioactive materials", requested the Director General "to maintain close liaison ... with international organizations concerned with the safety of transport of radioactive materials" and requested the Secretariat "to keep the Transport Regulations under review in consultation, and where appropriate in collaboration, with the competent organs of the United Nations and with the specialized organizations concerned" and "to provide for application of the Transport Regulations by - inter alia - providing a service, within existing resources, for carrying out, at the request of any State, an appraisal of the implementation of the Transport Regulations by that State". It also requested the Director General "to report to the General Conference at its forty-third (1999) regular session on the implementation of this resolution, inter alia indicating the global status of implementation of the Transport Regulations".

    ACTION TAKEN BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL AND THE SECRETARIAT

  3. The Director General informed all States (in a letter J1.01.Circ. dated 10 December 1998) about resolution GC(42)/RES/13 and the Agency Secretariat's readiness, within existing resources, to assist States in strengthening their national transport safety regulations through the implementation of the Transport Regulations and in particular to carry out, at the request of any State, an appraisal of its implementation of the Transport Regulations.

  4. In order to ensure that close liaison is maintained with the relevant international organizations, the Director General invited (in a letter J1.01.Circ. dated 27 January 1999) the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Labour Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Universal Postal Union to consider engaging in more formal co-operation with the Agency in the further development and implementation of the Transport Regulations.

  5. The Director General also informed (in a letter J1.01.Circ. dated 27 January 1999) the World Health Organization, the European Commission, the Nuclear Energy Agency of OECD, the International Air Transport Association and the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations of resolution GC(42)/RES/13, emphasizing the importance attached by the Agency to close co-operation in this area, and invited them to work closely with the Agency in matters relating to the safe transport of radioactive materials.

  6. The Secretariat has developed procedures and guidelines for the provision, in a comprehensive and systematic manner, of the services envisaged in the Director General's letter of 10 December 1998 and has established a Transport Safety Appraisal Service (TranSAS). In addition, it is organizing training courses on the transport of radioactive materials - for example, within the framework of the five regional Model Projects on "Upgrading Radiation Protection Infrastructure" (RAF/9/024 for Africa, RAS/9/021 for East Asia and the Pacific, RER/9/056 for Europe, RLA/9/030 for Latin America and RAW/9/006 for West Asia).

  7. In April 1999, the Transport Safety Standards Advisory Committee (TRANSSAC) considered - inter alia - the possibility of simplifying and rationalizing the Transport Regulations. On TRANSSAC's recommendation, the Secretariat has initiated a work programme to this end. Proposals received from Member States and international organizations will be considered by a Technical Committee early in October 1999.

    RESPONSE OF STATES

  8. In response to the Director General's letter of 10 December 1998, Slovenia requested Agency assistance in carrying out an appraisal of its implementation of the Transport Regulations. In June 1999, a three-man TranSAS team visited Ljubljana and carried out an appraisal of Slovenia's legislative framework for the transport of radioactive materials and the associated division of responsibilities among competent authorities, approval procedures, and inspection and emergency preparedness arrangements. The TranSAS team's report is currently being considered by the Slovene authorities.

    ACTION TAKEN BY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

  9. In December 1998, the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods approved complete integration of the requirements of the Transport Regulations into the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, also known as "the Model Regulations", which serve as a basis for the dangerous goods transport regulations of States and other international organizations. The International Civil Aviation Organization (for air transport), the International Maritime Organization (for marine transport) and a number of other international organizations (for road and rail transport) have been interacting with the United Nations Committee of Experts in the preparation of amendments to their requirements for the transport of dangerous goods in order to make those requirements consistent with the Model Regulations in time for the amendments to go into effect on 1 January 2001. This harmonized approach to implementing requirements for the international transport of dangerous goods by all modes of transport will simplify and speed up the worldwide implementation of the Transport Regulations. The revision process for the Transport Regulations, which has been shortened, will be synchronized with the two-year revision cycle of the Model Regulations in order to simplify and speed up the implementation of future revised versions of the Transport Regulations.

  10. The International Maritime Organization is finalizing proposed amendments to chapter VII of the Safety of Life at Sea Convention designed to make the Code for the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Wastes in Flasks on Board Ships (the INF Code) mandatory. The INF Code, jointly developed by the Agency and the International Maritime Organization, addresses the design and operation of ships carrying significant quantities of such materials.

*   See paras 107 - 110 of GOV/OR.951.

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