The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) has since 12 June 1997 been responsible for regulations pertaining to the safe transport of radioactive and fissile materials for civil use and for supervision of their application. Its powers in this field were confirmed by decree 2002-255 of 22 February 2002 which created the Directorate General for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection.

It should be noted that the radioactive material transport regulations have two separate objectives:
- security, or physical protection, consists in preventing loss, disappearance, theft and misuse of nuclear materials (usable for weapons), for which the Defence High Official, attached to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry, is the responsible authority;
- for its part, safety consists in supervising the irradiation, contamination and criticality hazards involved in radioactive and fissile material transportation, ensuring that man and the environment undergo no ill effects. Monitoring safety is the responsibility of the ASN.

In application of the decree 2001-592 of 5 July 2001, supervision of the transport of radioactive and fissile materials for national security purposes falls to the Delegate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection for activities and installations concerned by National Defence provisions (DSND).

1   GENERAL INTRODUCTION
  1.1 Packages
The term package designates the container with its radioactive contents ready for transportation. The regulations define several types of package, depending on the characteristics of the substance to be transported, such as its total activity, its specific activity, its physico-chemical form and its fissile character where applicable. For each radionuclide, a reference activity level is defined, where the lowest levels correspond to the most noxious products. This value is called A1 for materials in a special form (guaranteeing no dispersion) and A2 in all other cases. For example, for Pu 239, A1 is equal to 10 TBq and A2 is equal to 10-3 TBq.

The adjoining diagram shows the different types of package defined by the regulations.

Packages fall into one of the following categories:
- excepted packages: very low activity of contents, below 10-3 A1 or 10-3 A2;
- industrial packages: low specific activity of contents, below 2.10-3 A1/g or 10-3 A2;
- type A packages: activity of contents below A1 or A2;
- type B packages: activity of contents above A1 or A2;
- type C packages (air transport): activity of contents above 3000 A1 or 3000 A2.

  
This package classification only applies to the transportation of materials having specific and total activities exceeding the exemption thresholds defined in the relevant transport regulations. Packages where the specific or total activity levels are below the exemption thresholds are considered to be exempted.
Each type of package is governed by specific safety requirements and test criteria confirming the capacity of the package to withstand normal or accident transport conditions (see box below).
Characteristics of the various types of packages
Excepted packages are subjected to no qualification tests. However, they must comply with a number of general specifications, such as a maximum dose rate at the surface below 0.005 mSv/h. Non-fissile industrial or type A packages are not designed to withstand accident situations. However, they must withstand certain incidents which could occur during handling or storage operations. They must consequently withstand the following tests:
- exposure to a severe storm (rainfall reaching 5 cm/h for at least 1 hour);
- drop onto a rock target from a height varying according to the weight of the package (maximum 1.20 m);
- compression equivalent to 5 times the weight of the package;
- penetration by dropping a standard bar onto the package from a height of 1 m.
These tests should give rise to no loss of material and radiation shielding deterioration must not exceed 20%.
Fissile or type B packages must be designed so that they continue to ensure their containment, sub-criticality and radiation shielding functions under accidental conditions. These accidents are represented by the following tests:
- a series of three consecutive tests:
• a 9 m drop test onto a rock target,
• a 1 m drop onto a spike,
• encircling fire of at least 800 °C for 30 minutes;
- immersion in 15 m deep water for 8 h (200 m water depth for spent fuel).
Type C packages must be designed so that they continue to ensure their containment, sub-criticality and radiation shielding functions under representative air transport accident conditions. These accidents are represented by the following tests:
- a series of three consecutive tests:
• a 9 m drop test onto a rock target,
• a 3 m drop onto a spike,
• encircling fire of at least 800 °C for 60 minutes;
- 90m/s impact on a rock target;
– immersion in 200 m deep water for 1 h.
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