The French Nuclear Safety Authority's Experience with Radioactive Transport Inspection

Abstract

About 300,000 radioactive material packages are transported annually in France. Most consist of radioisotopes for medical, pharmaceutical or industrial use, but the nuclear industry deals with the transport of fuel cycle materials (uranium, fuel assemblies, etc.) andwaste from power plants, reprocessing plants and research centres. France is also a transit country for shipments such as spent fuel packages from Switzerland or Germany, which are bound for Sellafield in the United Kingdom. The French nuclear safety authority(DGSNR, Directorate General for Nuclear Safety and Radioprotection) has since 1997 been responsible for the safety of radioactive material transport. This paper presents DGNSR's experience with transport inspection: a feedback of key points based on 300 inspections achieved during the past 5 years is given.