Transportation of radioactive substances

Transport operations involving radioactive materials must comply with the provisions of the international conventions and regulations in force governing the transport of dangerous goods.

The Minister of Health is the authority in Luxembourg competent to issue authorisations prior to the transportation of radioactive substances. The transportation can take place by road, air or other means.

Authorisation applications are submitted to the Minister of Health, who instructs the Radiation Protection Division (Division de la radioprotection) to check and verify the technical specifications in accordance with national and international regulations.

The Radiation Protection Division may:

  • request additional information,
  • seek the opinion of the authorities and administrations reporting to the Minister responsible for transport and civil aviation,
  • seek the opinion of national, foreign, or international experts or organisations.

The Radiation Protection Division is then responsible for advising the Minister to approve or reject the application for authorisation.

Fee

On 1 June of every year, any establishment that holds a permit for the transportation of radioactive materials, with the exception of permits limited to the transport of packages bearing UN identification numbers 2908, 2909, 2910 or 2911, as listed in the ADR, is required to pay a fee of EUR 500. The fee is due in the form of payment or bank transfer to an account held by the Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority (Administration de l’enregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA), indicating the applicant’s identity and the purpose of the payment or transfer:

Account holder:

Validity of the permit

Permits are granted for a minimum fixed term of one year and may not exceed 10 years.

Permit conditions

The authorisation may be subject to certain permit conditions:

  1. responsibilities;
  2. restrictions on the types and maximum number of packages to be transported;
  3. restrictions on maximum activity and dose rates;
  4. minimum qualifications of the internal and external personnel;
  5. requirements for emergency procedures and communications;
  6. the work procedures to be followed;
  7. dose constraints;
  8. specific operational provisions to reduce the exposure of workers, patients and the public, and to ensure the physical protection of equipment;
  9. content and management of registers;
  10. quality assurance measures to be taken;
  11. implementation of an audit system;
  12. necessary equipment.

Qualification of transport operator

The European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) currently in force specifies the type of driving licence required to transport radioactive substances.

Radiation protection officer

A radiation protection officer must be appointed for each company that is involved in:

  • the transportation of radioactive materials,
  • packaging, loading, filling or unloading related to such transportation.


The radiation protection officer's remit includes:

  • implementation of radiation protection programmes;
  • setting up of appropriate emergency procedures;
  • administrative checks, inspections and accreditation;
  • understanding of the characteristics of the contents (list of radionuclides present, physical state, chemical form, special or normal form, other hazardous properties) and therefore of the associated risks;
  • the application of quality assurance schemes in all operations related to the transportation of radioactive materials – in particular, documentation, maintenance, preparation, loading, transport, in-transit storage and unloading.

This role may be assumed by the safety officer if they have completed specific training recognised by the Radiation Protection Division.

Incidents

The theft or loss of a radioactive source, or any kind of accident or incident during transportation, must be reported as soon as possible to the Radiation Protection Division, regardless of whether there are any radiological consequences or not.

Outside of office hours, the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps must be alerted by calling 112. The Corps will the notify the person on call at the Radiation Protection Division.

Last update