RSPA issues revised RAM regulations, compatible with IAEA

["Bruce Bugg" <obbugg@dmvs.ga.gov>]

RSPA (US DOT) today (January 26, 2004) issued a Final Rule adopting IAEA standards into the US HMR



Text/html format:



http://hazmat.dot.gov/rules/69fr-3631.htm





Adobe */pdf format:



http://hazmat.dot.gov/69fr-3631.pdf







DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION



Research and Special Programs Administration



49 CFR Parts 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177 and 178



[Docket No. RSPA-99-6283 (HM-230)]

RIN 2137-AD40



 

Hazardous Materials Regulations; Compatibility With the 

Regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency



AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.



ACTION: Final rule.



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SUMMARY: In this final rule RSPA is amending requirements in the 

Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) pertaining to the transportation 

of radioactive materials based on changes contained in the 

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) publication, entitled ``IAEA 

Safety Standards Series: Regulations for the Safe Transport of 

Radioactive Material,'' 1996 Edition, No. TS-R-1. The purpose of this 

rulemaking initiative is to harmonize requirements of the HMR with 

international standards for radioactive materials as well as to 

promulgate other DOT-initiated requirements.



DATES: Effective Date: The effective date of these amendments is 

October 1, 2004.

    Voluntary Compliance Date: RSPA is authorizing voluntary compliance 

with the amendments adopted in this final rule beginning February 25, 

2004. However, RSPA may further revise this rule as a result of appeals 

it may receive for this rule.

    Incorporation by Reference Date: The incorporation by reference of 

publications listed in this final rule has been approved by the 

Director of the Federal Register as of October 1, 2004.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Fred D. Ferate II, Office of 

Hazardous Materials Technology, (202) 366-4545, or Charles E. Betts, 

Office of Hazardous Materials Standards, (202) 366-8553; RSPA, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 

20590-0001.





A. Summary of Amendments



    In this final rule, we are amending the HMR to:

     Adopt the nuclide-specific exemption activity 

concentrations and the nuclide-specific exemption consignment 

activities listed in TS-R-1 to assure continued consistency between 

domestic and international regulations for the basic definition of 

radioactive material;

     Provide an exception in the HMR that certain 

naturally occurring radioactive materials would not be subject to the 

requirements of the HMR so long as their specific activities do not 

exceed 10 times the activity concentration exemption values;

     Incorporate the TS-R-1 changes in the 

A1 and A2 values into the HMR;

     Adopt the new proper shipping names and UN 

identification numbers, except for those referring to Type C packages, 

to fissile LSA material and to fissile SCOs;

     Require, if customary units are used, that the 

appropriate quantity and customary units be placed within parentheses 

positioned after the original quantity expressed in the International 

System of Units (SI units);

     Adopt the use of the Criticality Safety Index 

(CSI) to refer to what was formerly the criticality control transport 

index, and to restrict the use of the concept of transport index (TI) 

to a number derived purely from the maximum radiation level at one 

meter from the package;

     Require the new fissile label be placed on each 

fissile material package, and that the CSI for that package be noted on 

the fissile label;

     Adopt the requirement that excepted packages be 

marked with the UN identification number, that industrial packagings be 

marked with the package type, and that Type IP-2 and IP-3 industrial 

packages and Type A packages be marked with the international vehicle 

registration code of the country of origin of packaging design;

     Remove some former requirements which would 

become redundant upon adoption of the new proper shipping names, such 

as the requirement that the shipping description contain the words 

``Radioactive Material'' unless those words are included in the proper 

shipping name;

     Remove plutonium-238 from the definition of 

fissile material. Remove the reference to Pu-238 in the list of fissile 

radionuclides for which the weight in grams or kilograms may be listed 

instead of or in addition to the activity, in the shipping paper or 

radioactive label description of the radioactive contents of a package;

     Adopt a definition of contamination, and include 

an authority to transport unpackaged LSA material and SCO, and an 

authority to use qualified tank containers, freight containers and 

metal intermediate bulk containers as industrial packagings, types 2 

and 3 (IP-2 and IP-3);

     Adopt the new class of LSA-I material, 

consisting of radioactive material in which the activity is distributed throughout and the 

estimated average specific activity does not exceed 30 times the 

activity concentration exemption level, and to remove the present 

category referring to mill tailings, contaminated earth, concrete, 

rubble, other debris, and activated material that is essentially 

uniformly distributed, with specific activity not exceeding 

10-\6\ A2/g.

     Incorporate the TS-R-1 changes for packagings 

containing more than 0.1 kg of uranium hexafluoride (UF6);

     Require UF6 packagings to meet the 

pressure, drop and thermal test requirements, to prohibit the use of 

pressure relief devices, and to certify the packagings in accordance 

with TS-R-1 requirements;

     Revise Sec. 173.453 to reflect the NRC ``fissile 

material exemption provisions,'' to remove the definition of ``fissile 

material, controlled shipment,'' and to revise Sec.Sec. 173.457 and 

173.459 to remove the references to ``fissile material, controlled 

shipment'' and to base requirements for non-exclusive use and exclusive 

use shipments of fissile material packages on TS-R-1 package and 

conveyance CSI limits;

     Accept the IAEA transitional requirements and 

begin the phase out of packages satisfying the 1967 IAEA requirements, 

including DOT specification packages;

     Prohibit the manufacture of all Type B 

specification packages conforming to Safety Series No. 6 (1967) as of 

the effective date of this rule. The use of these packages would be 

allowed for three years after the effective date of this rule; and

     Add a requirement that the active material in an 

instrument or article intended to be transported in an excepted package 

be completely enclosed by the non-active components.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Capt. Bruce Bugg

Special Projects Coordinator

Law Enforcement Division

Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety

P.O. Box 80447 

Conyers, GA  30013-8047

voice:	678.413.8825

fax:	678.413.8832

e-mail:	obbugg@dmvs.ga.gov



"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." -- Charles Mingus (Musician, 1922- )



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