Transport and Disposal of Radioactive Sources
The protection from ionising radiation of transport workers and the general public is of utmost importance when transporting radioactive material. Transported radioactive material must comply with jurisdictional legislation and regulation. Surface transport within Australia must comply with the applicable Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Substances and the applicable IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations for national and international air freight. ARS personnel have thorough knowledge of these documents. Our advice reflects our practical experience in such areas as packaging, category labelling, transport index determination and transit handling procedures of packages containing radioactive material.
ARS disposes of ionising radiation sources through legitimate overseas pathways and all disposals are completed to national and international regulations. Each source, or the nearest accessible surface to the source, is wiped and assayed for radioactive contamination according to ISO 9978:1992(E) "Radiation protection - Sealed radioactive sources - Leakage test methods" prior to disposal. Irradiating apparatus and sealed radiation sources we have disposed of include transuranic materials, medical sources, radiation gauges, density and moisture gauges, and bulk quantities of smoke alarms containing 241Am or Ra-226. ARS can also advise on suitable over packs/packaging, perform pre-transport checks of packages and the disposal of aqueous radioactive waste.