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know the law
Page 57
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by Les Oldridge AIRTE, AMIMI
The carrying of radioactive substances byroad (2)
REGULATION 6 of the Radioactive Substances (Carriage by Road) (Great Britain) Regulations, 1970 states that no person shall carry radioactive material unless he is the consignor of the material or he has received a certificate (as laid down in the Regulations, which I will discuss later) and the material is contained in white or yellow label packages.
Material which the consignor knows, or has reasonable grounds for believing, is a specially approved consignment or a full load of low specific activity material may also be carried. A carrier may also carry white or yellow label packages imported from Northern Ireland if he knows the Northern Ireland Regulations have been complied with, or carry materials imported from other countries if he knows the International Regulations as to labels and transport documents have been complied with. In both cases the carriage is only permitted on one occasion, ie, the first journey after import.
The certificate, referred to earlier, must be completed by the consignor and given to the carrier. Where the consignor himself is the carrier then the certificate must be given to the driver of the vehicle in which the radioactive material is to be carried.
The certificate must take a form similar to the one shown below.
Package dimensions With regard to the package itself it must have external dimensions of at least 10 centimetres. In other words the smallest permissible package is a 10cm cube. Nothing must be placed inside the package except the radioactive material and any other articles or documents which are necessary for the use of the radioactive material and which can be included without providing any additional hazard due to reaction with the material. The package must be closed securely in such a way that deliberate action is needed to open it.
No person may travel on a vehicle carrying radioactive material unless he travels with the permission of the carrier in the driver's cab separate from the body of the lorry where the material is being carried. No person, except the carrier, may remove the material from the vehicle during the journey or alter its position except in accordance with the instructions of the carrier, the consignee or consignor, or for a reasonable cause. Both the consignor and the carrier must exercise reasonable care to ensure that the material does not injure any person. Nobody under 18 years of age is allowed to travel on the vehicle unless the only radioactive material is contained in white label packages and the radiation dose rate inside the driver's cab does not exceed 2 millirem per hour.
Where white or yellow label packages are being carried, or where packages are being carried as a full load consignment, reasonable care must be exercised to ensure that the packages are secured against unlawful removal from the vehicle. A locked van seems the ideal solution to this requirement.
The responsibilities and obligations of
the driver of a vehicle carrying radioactive material is set out in Regulation 18. He must:—
(a) exercise reasonable care to ensure that none of the material is lost, escapes or is unlawfully removed; (b) not leave the vehicle unattended in a place where the public have access unless the radiation dose rate emanating at any time from any readily accessible part of the vehicle is so small that no danger is caused;
(c) not park the vehicle for a continuous period of longer than one hour in any place, unless when it is parked there is a clear space of at least 6ft around it, or unless the only radioactive material in the vehicle is contained in white label* packages;
(d) as soon as reasonably practicable inform the police and the carrier if any of the material is lost, escaped or been unlawfully removed from the vehicle, or if any package is open or otherwise damaged or the vehicle or its load is in danger of damage or destruction; (e) not allow any person to travel on the vehicle without the carrier's permission. Next week I hope to deal with the notices which have to be displayed on the vehicle and on packages and the action necessary when vehicles are involved in accidents.