How do you ensure that the high safety requirements for the transport of radioactive material are met?

Who licenses and supervises the transports in Germany?

How is the radioactive material transported?

Who is liable in case of accidents and what is the amount of liability?

Is there experience with accidents?

For what kind of transports are CASTOR containers required?

How many so-called CASTOR transports are performed per year?

Do CASTOR transports cause a radiation exposure to the public?

How do you ensure that the high safety requirements for the transport of radioactive material are met?

This is ensured by:

1.) Compliance with the atomic energy and dangerous goods transport regulations

The transport of radioactive material is subject to comprehensive regulations stipulated in the atomic energy and dangerous goods transport regulations. These rules aim at eliminating or reducing to an acceptable level the hazards associated with the transport of radioactive material, particularly the harmful effects of ionising radiation on life, health and material goods.

Such rules for the transport of radioactive material applied in Germany and internationally are based on the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. These recommendations have been implemented in the German dangerous goods transport regulations for all modes of transport. They are based on the concept of "safe package". CASTOR containers, for example, and other casks used for the transport of spent nuclear fuel are Type B packages which are designed to be "accident-safe". These containers must be able to withstand severe accidents without detriment to their safety function regarding

• Containment of the radioactive contents (leak tightness),
• Shielding of radiation,
• Dissipation of heat that emanates from the contents and
• Prevention of a critical configuration (criticality safety).

Such Type B packages are subject to approval by BfS. Before granting the approval it must be demonstrated that the container meets all Type B requirements as set out in the law. For this demonstration several methods can be applied, e.g. original tests, model tests and theoretical proofs.

2.) Special conditions in package design approvals and transport licences

According to the conditions included in the package design approvals and transport licences, measures to comply with the safety requirements must be taken by the holder of such approval or licence. For example, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) suspended transport of spent fuel elements and high-level radioactive waste (HAW vitrified waste canisters from the reprocessing of spent fuel elements) in May 1998, when it became publicly known that contamination limits had been exceeded. A set of measures was elaborated on the basis of the criteria set out by BMU and intensive studies performed by GRS in Cologne and the ‘Öko-Institut’ (Institute for Applied Ecology) in Darmstadt, and BfS amended the transport licenses by including special conditions for the compliance with contamination limits.

Carrying out such measures includes, for example, measures to avoid and control contamination, transport documentation, and notification requirements. Among others, these measures are to ensure that the authorised limits amounting to 4.0 Bq/cm2 for radioactive materials with beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters and to 0.4 Bq/cm2 for all other alpha emitters are complied with for non-fixed surface contamination.

3.) Control of compliance with legal regulations and with the conditions set out in approvals and/or licences by the competent supervisory authorities

The competent supervisory authorities are charged with controlling whether the atomic energy and dangerous goods transport regulations and the provisions set out in approvals and licences are complied with. Cf. also point 2.

Who licenses and supervises the transports in Germany?

A transport licence issued by the competent authority is required if the radioactive materials' level of activity exceeds certain limits set out in the atomic energy and the dangerous goods transport regulations. According to the Atomic Energy Act BfS is the competent authority for all modes of transports for nuclear fuels and for large sources (radioactive materials with a level of activity that exceeds 1,000 TBq per package). For other radioactive material the "Eisenbahn-Bundesamt" (Federal Railway Authority) is responsible for railway transport and the relevant authority as set forth in the Federal State laws, which is in most cases the "Gewerbe-Aufsichtsamt" (Trade Supervisory Office), is responsible for road transport. A transport licence may refer to individual transports or to a certain radioactive material.It can also be granted in general for a period of up to three years.

BfS is also in charge of granting the transport licences required according to the dangerous goods transport regulations.

Since 19^th of August 2005, new provisions included in the Radiation Protection Ordinance have additionally provided for a duty to give notification of transports of radioactive materials which are not subject to licensing.

Supervision of the compliance of such transports according to atomic energy and dangerous goods regulations is the responsibility of the Laender authorities, with the exception of transports by rail, for which the Federal Railway Authority is responsible, and by air, which is the responsibility of the Federal Court of Civil Aviation (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt).

How is the radioactive material transported?

Any means of transport can be used for radioactive material. Radioactive material for medical use, which holds the greatest part of the consignments, is mostly transported on the road, while spent fuel elements and high-level radioactive wastes are almost exclusively transported by railway. High safety standards for the transports are maintained because the safety is provided by the package itself (cf. also point 1). Thus in most cases it is not necessary to demand special requirements on the means of transport or to prescribe certain transport routes. Within the railway network there are no restrictions regarding the transport route.

Who is liable in case of accidents and what is the amount of liability?

The transport is performed subject to the principle that the operator of the nuclear installation shall be liable for any cases of personal injury and property damage if such injury or damage is due to a nuclear event caused by nuclear material from this nuclear installation. The liability is a strict liability in tort (regardless of negligence or fault) and can be transferred by contract to the operator of another nuclear facility or to the carrier. The provisions of the German Atomic Energy Act provide liability provisions in detail for the transport of other radioactive substances as well, stating that in most cases liability rests with the consignor.

According to these liability regulations a special insurance must be taken out for the transport of more than a certain amount of radioactive material to cover for any damage caused by ionising radiation.

The amount of liability is fixed according to the nature and quantity of the nuclear material or according to the level of activity of the radioactive substances to be transported, respectively, and is defined correspondingly in the Ordinance Concerning Financial Security pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act (AtDeckV).

Is there experience with accidents?

There have been accidents with vehicles transporting radioactive material, yet in no case were persons significantly exposed to radiation. Examples of accidents are stated in the Parliamentary Reports "Environmental Radioactivity and Radiation Exposure in the Years 2000 to 2007" (Umweltradioaktivität und Strahlenbelastung in den Jahren 2000 bis 2007) (http://www.bfs.de/de/bfs/druck/uus/pb_archiv.html), where it can be seen that most cases were traffic accidents caused by driving mistakes. The container’s integrity, however, was kept. One accident should be mentioned in the context of CASTOR transports: On 4 February, 1997 a train loaded with spent fuel elements from the nuclear power plant of Lingen in the Emsland region derailed in the French frontier town of Apach. No radioactive substances were released and no personal injury occurred.

For what kinds of transports are CASTOR containers required?

CASTOR is an abbreviation of the name "Cask for Storage and Transport of Radioactive Material" and comprises several types of containers, constructed in Germany, that are designed for the transport and interim storage of spent fuel elements from nuclear power plants and high-level radioactive waste resulting from the reprocessing of fuel elements in Germany. Erroneously, this name is often attributed to similar casks produced by non-German manufacturers as well (French casks types TN12/2, TN13/2 and TN 17/2 or British casks types NTL 11 and Excellox 6), which were employed, for example, for transport to the reprocessing plants in France and Great Britain.

Since 2008, a new French container Type TN 85 has also been used for the transport and storage of high-level radioactive wastes from reprocessing.

How many so-called CASTOR transports are performed per year?

Transport of spent fuel elements to reprocessing plants outside of Germany and of high-level radioactive waste (vitrified waste canisters) to the Gorleben interim storage facility in Germany was initially resumed in March 2001 after it had been suspended in 1998 because contamination limits had been exceeded. Since then, altogether 267 packages (loaded containers) were transported to the reprocessing plants in France and Great Britain until the 31^st of June 2005. Altogether 86 containers with HAW vitrified waste canisters were transported to the Gorleben interim storage facility until December 2008.

Since 1 July, 2005, it is no longer permitted to perform transports of spent fuel elements from power reactors for the purpose of reprocessing. This had led to a considerable reduction of transports of spent fuel elements in Germany.

A further minimisation of transports results from the interim storage facilities at the nuclear power plant sites taken into operation in the past years, since transports within Germany to central interim storage facilities are not necessary any more.

Please find additional information on CASTOR transports in the BfS annual reports under http://www.bfs.de/bfs/druck/jahresberichte.

Information on authorised and performed transports is given in the table under the topic "Transport Licenses"/"Transports" under http://www.bfs.de/transport/gv/uebersicht.html.

Do CASTOR transports cause a radiation exposure to the public?

Transport casks containing, for example, spent fuel elements or radioactive waste emit gamma and neutron radiation. The authorised radiation level is set out in the German dangerous goods transport regulations, i.e. the gamma and neutron radiation must not exceed 2 mSv/h at any point on the surface of the transport cask, and the exposure rate at 2 m from the railway or car or vehicle must not be higher than 0.1 mSv/h. In practice the exposure rates observed are far below these values.

A safety analysis performed by the "Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit mbH" (GRS) in 2000 showed that even under the most unfavourable assumptions of a maximum transport quantity, the radiation exposure to the public amounts to approximately 0.01 mSv per person per year, which is the one-hundredth part of the permissible limit of 1 mSv per year.