Thursday, 24 April 2025
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Denial of shipments (DoS) can lead to longer and more complicated transport routes and a lack of flexibility in route selection. There are also indications that longer and more complicated routes may result in compromises to safety and security. In the case of medical isotopes, shipment denials can cause delays in the provision of medical care and in the execution of diagnoses.
Despite a solid regulatory framework, the international community has noted that, in recent decades, there have been frequent interruptions in the supply of radioactive material for peaceful purposes. In response, International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference resolution GC(67)/RES/7 para 94 of September 2023 “calls upon Member States to facilitate the transport of radioactive material, and to identify, if they have not done so, a national focal point (NFP) on denials of shipment of radioactive materials to achieve a satisfactory and timely resolution of this issue”. A total of worldwide as of 17 April 2025.
Italy has appointed Alessandro Orsini of the National Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ISIN) as its National Focal Point. The country has gone beyond the appointment of an NFP by taking the historic initiative to establish the National Committee for the Facilitation of the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (FATRAM).
FATRAM – coordinated by ISIN – held its inaugural meeting in Rome on 16 April.
In addition to the Inspectorate, the FATRAM Committee will avail itself of the contribution of representatives of public administrations, trade associations and private companies that are involved in Italy in the procedures for the transport of radioactive material.
The committee’s activities will be organised into four subgroups, which will deal respectively with mapping responsibilities, simplification and regulatory harmonisation, training, communication and information.
The work carried out within the subgroups and the exchange of information between them will be essential to prepare proposals for possible interventions, including regulatory and normative ones, to reduce cases of denial of shipment and to provide the IAEA with shared data and observations.
Through the FATRAM Committee, ISIN and all the entities involved will collaborate with the aim of making the transport of radioactive material “an efficient, modern and sustainable system, aligned with the most recent international standards”, ISIN said.
“This is an historic initiative to facilitate the safe transport of radioactive material and it is hoped that many other Member States will emulate this example,” said Allarakha Vora, Staff Director of World Nuclear Association’s Transport Working Group, which has spearheaded efforts to measure and raise awareness of challenges relating to the denial of shipments of radioactive material.
According to World Nuclear Association, most reports of DoS relate to non-fissile materials, either Type B packages (mainly cobalt-60) or tantalum-niobium concentrates. For uranium concentrates the main problem is the limited number of ports which handle them, and the relatively few marine carriers which accept them.
