HL Deb 10 December 1997 vol 584 cc29-30WA
Lord Jenkins of Putney

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What amount of dangerous radioactive material is carried on the roads in this country; for what purposes; and what precautions are taken against what hazards.

Baroness Hayman:

Data on the amount of radioactive material carried by road are not routinely collected by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. However, it can be estimated that of the order of 500,000 packages of radioactive material are carried by road annually in the United Kingdom (source: Radiation Exposure from the Normal Transport of Radioactive Materials within the UK 1991 Review, by R. Gelder, NRPB Report NRPB-R255, a copy of which is held in the Library). The majority of these packages carry only small quantities of radioactive material which are used for a great variety of purposes in research, medicine and practically every industry. For example, radioisotopes are used in research on pollution measurement, plant breeding, soil fertility, irrigation, insect and pest control; medical diagnosis and a variety of industrial applications such as level gauging, leak detection, wear measurement, flow measurement, light sources, moisture/density gauges used in road construction and smoke detectors used in factories. shops, offices and homes. Nuclear techniques are also widely used in geochemistry and geophysics—for example, in prospecting for oil, water and minerals.

Larger sources of radioactive material are used in such applications as industrial radiography to detect flaws and cracks in pressure vessels and pipelines, medical cancer therapy and sterilisation of medical and consumer goods. Radioactive material associated with the nuclear fuel cycle, including unirradiated and irradiated material, accounts for a relatively small proportion of the total package movements by road.

The transport of radioactive material by road is regulated in Great Britain by The Radioactive Material (Road Transport) (Great Britain) Regulations 1996 (511996 No. 1350). These, in common with regulations of all other modes of transport, are based upon the international recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which provide standards for ensuring a high level of safety to people, property and the environment against radiation and criticality hazards as well as thermal effects associated with the transport of radioactive material, under both normal and accident conditions of transport. The basic requirements are:

  1. (i) Effective containment of radioactive material;
  2. (ii) Effective control of radiation emitted from the package;
  3. (iii) A subcritical condition for any fissile material; and
  4. (iv) Adequate dissipation of any heat generated within the package.

Road transport of radioactive material, in common with any work activity giving rise to ionising radiation, is also subject to the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 (S.I. 1985 No. 1333).