Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations, 2015 (SOR/2015-145)
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Regulations are current to 2024-11-26
Radiation Protection
Definitions
Marginal note:Definitions
30 For the purposes of sections 31 and 33, committed, equivalent dose and radon progeny have the same meaning as in subsection 1(1) of the Radiation Protection Regulations.
Radiation Protection Program
Marginal note:Radiation protection program
31 (1) Every consignor, carrier or consignee of radioactive material, other than one who only handles or transports excepted packages, must implement a radiation protection program and must, as part of that program,
(a) keep the amount of exposure to radon progeny and the effective dose and equivalent dose received by and committed to persons as low as reasonably achievable, taking into account social and economic factors, through the implementation of
(i) management control over work practices,
(ii) personnel qualification and training,
(iii) control of exposure to radiation by personnel and the public, and
(iv) planning for unusual situations;
(b) prevent persons from receiving doses of radiation higher than the radiation dose limits prescribed by the Radiation Protection Regulations;
(c) assess the radiation at the workplace and
(i) conduct workplace or individual monitoring if it may reasonably be expected that the doses of radiation received by persons at the workplace will be 1 mSv or more but less than 5 mSv a year, or
(ii) conduct individual monitoring if it may reasonably be expected that the doses of radiation received by persons at the workplace will be 5 mSv a year or more; and
(d) train the persons referred to in the program on the application of the program.
Marginal note:Requirement to keep records
(2) Every consignor, carrier or consignee must
(a) keep a record documenting their radiation protection program and of any information collected under it; and
(b) retain the record for a period ending two years after the day on which the information is collected.
Marginal note:When dose limit exceeded
32 Every consignor, carrier or consignee who becomes aware that a dose of radiation received by a person may have exceeded an applicable dose limit prescribed by the Radiation Protection Regulations must
(a) immediately notify the person and the Commission of the dose;
(b) conduct an investigation to determine the magnitude of the dose and to establish the causes of the exposure;
(c) take any action required to prevent the occurrence of a similar incident; and
(d) within 21 days after becoming aware that the dose limit may have been exceeded, report to the Commission the results of the investigation or the progress that has been made in conducting it.
Marginal note:Provision of information
33 (1) Every consignor, carrier or consignee must inform every nuclear energy worker that they employ, in writing,
(a) of the fact that the worker is a nuclear energy worker;
(b) of the risks associated with the radiation to which the worker may be exposed in the course of their work, including the risks associated with the exposure of embryos and foetuses to radiation;
(c) of the applicable effective dose limits and equivalent dose limits prescribed by sections 13 and 14, respectively, of the Radiation Protection Regulations; and
(d) of the worker’s radiation dose levels.
Marginal note:Obligation to inform
(2) In the case of a female nuclear energy worker, the consignor, carrier or consignee must
(a) inform her, in writing, that she is required, as soon as she is aware that she is pregnant, to inform her employer of that fact in writing;
(b) inform her, in writing, of the applicable effective dose limits prescribed by the Radiation Protection Regulations; and
(c) on being informed of the pregnancy, make any accommodation that will not result in costs or business inconvenience constituting undue hardship to it to comply with the effective dose limits prescribed by section 13 of the Radiation Protection Regulations.
Marginal note:Acknowledgement of information
(3) Every consignor, carrier or consignee must obtain from each nuclear energy worker that they employ who is informed of the matters referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) and subsection (2) a written acknowledgement that the worker has received the information.
Personal Information
Marginal note:Collection of personal information
34 (1) If a consignor, carrier or consignee collects personal information, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, that may be required to be disclosed to the Commission, another government institution, as defined in that section, or a dosimetry service, the consignor, carrier or consignee must inform the person to whom the information relates of the purpose for which it is being collected.
Marginal note:Required information
(2) Every nuclear energy worker whose work requires that they engage in activities that are subject to these Regulations must provide the following information to their employer:
(a) their given names, surname and any previous surname;
(b) their Social Insurance Number;
(c) their gender;
(d) their date, province and country of birth; and
(e) their dose record, as applicable, for the current one-year dosimetry period and five-year dosimetry period as those terms are defined in subsection 1(1) of the Radiation Protection Regulations.
Dangerous Occurrences
Marginal note:Interpretation
35 For the purpose of sections 36 to 38, a dangerous occurrence is any of the following situations:
(a) a conveyance carrying radioactive material is involved in an accident;
(b) a package shows evidence of damage, tampering or leakage of its contents, or its integrity is degraded in a manner that may reasonably be expected to impair its ability to comply with these Regulations or its certificate;
(c) radioactive material is lost, stolen or no longer in the control of a person who is required to have control of it under the Act;
(d) radioactive material has escaped from a containment system, a package or a conveyance during transport;
(e) fissile material is outside the confinement system during transport;
(f) the level of non-fixed contamination, as defined in the IAEA Regulations, during transport exceeds the following limits as applicable when averaged over any area of 300 cm2 of any part of the surface of the package or the conveyance:
(i) 4 Bq/cm2 for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or
(ii) 0.4 Bq/cm2 for all other alpha emitters;
(g) there is a failure to comply with the provisions of the Act, the provisions of these Regulations or any licence or certificate that is applicable to a package that may reasonably be expected to lead to a situation in which the environment, the health and safety of persons or national security is adversely affected.
Marginal note:Obligations in event of dangerous occurrence
36 (1) The consignor, carrier or consignee of a package or radioactive material involved in a dangerous occurrence or any other person who controls any area affected by a dangerous occurrence must immediately
(a) limit, to the extent possible, the dispersal of any radioactive material;
(b) place barriers, signs or personnel at every point of entry into the affected area to control the entry of persons into that area; and
(c) record the name, postal address and telephone number of any person who may have been exposed to or contaminated by radioactive material and request that the person remain available for assessment by an expert in radiation protection.
Marginal note:Expert assessment
(2) As soon as feasible after a dangerous occurrence has occurred the consignor, carrier or consignee of the package or radioactive material involved in the occurrence must have an expert in radiation protection assess the situation. The expert must report the results of the assessment to the Commission as soon as feasible.
Marginal note:Preliminary report
37 (1) Immediately after becoming aware of a failure to comply with the requirements of section 26 or after the obligations set out in subsection 36(1) have been discharged, every consignor, carrier, consignee and holder of a licence to transport a package while in transit must make a preliminary report of the situation to the Commission.
Marginal note:Exception
(2) No preliminary report is required for the dangerous occurrence referred to in paragraph 35(f) in respect of the internal surfaces of a tank or intermediate bulk container, as those terms are defined in the IAEA Regulations — or of a freight container or conveyance — that is dedicated to the transport of unpackaged radioactive material under exclusive use for as long as it remains under that specific exclusive use.
Marginal note:Informing consignor
(3) Every carrier, consignee and holder of a licence referred to in subsection (1) must immediately notify the consignor if that person is not already aware of the failure to comply or of the dangerous occurrence.
Marginal note:Contents of preliminary report
(4) All preliminary reports must include information on the location and circumstances of the failure to comply or of the dangerous occurrence and on any action that the consignor carrier, consignee or holder of a licence referred to in subsection (1) has taken or proposes to take with respect to it.
Marginal note:Full report
38 Within 21 days after the failure to comply with the requirements of section 26 or after the dangerous occurrence, the consignor, carrier and consignee and any holder of a licence to transport a package while in transit must file a full report with the Commission that includes the following information:
(a) the date, time and location of the failure to comply or of the dangerous occurrence;
(b) the names of the persons involved;
(c) the details of the packaging and packages;
(d) the probable cause;
(e) the effects on the environment, the health and safety of persons, and national or international security that have resulted or may result;
(f) the doses of radiation that any person has received or is likely to have received; and
(g) the actions taken to remedy the failure to comply or the dangerous occurrence and to prevent its recurrence.
Miscellaneous Provisions
Marginal note:Release under Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992
39 For the purpose of the definition release in section 2 of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, the following levels of ionizing radiation are established:
(a) in respect of a package that is being transported under exclusive use,
(i) 10 mSv/h on the external surface of the package,
(ii) 2 mSv/h on the surface of the conveyance, and
(iii) 0.1 mSv/h at a distance of 2 m from the surface of the conveyance; and
(b) in respect of a package that is not being transported under exclusive use,
(i) 2 mSv/h on the external surface of the package,
(ii) 0.1 mSv/h at a distance of 1 m from the package,
(iii) 2 mSv/h on the surface of the conveyance, and
(iv) 0.1 mSv/h at a distance of 2 m from the surface of the conveyance.
Marginal note:Opening of packages
40 (1) A person, other than the consignor or the consignee of the package, may open a package only if
(a) measures are taken to prevent persons from receiving doses of radiation higher than the radiation dose limits prescribed by the Radiation Protection Regulations; and
(b) the package is opened in the presence of an expert in radiation protection.
Marginal note:Restoring opened package
(2) If a person other than the consignor or the consignee opens a package while in transport, the person must restore the package to a condition that meets the requirements of these Regulations before forwarding it to the consignee.
Marginal note:Responsibilities on opening package
(3) Every person who receives a package or who opens a package must, at that time, determine if any of the following conditions exist:
(a) the package is damaged;
(b) the package has been tampered with;
(c) if the package contains fissile material, whether any portion of the fissile material is outside the confinement system; and
(d) any portion of the contents of the package is outside the containment system.
Marginal note:Preliminary report
(4) If any of the conditions exist, the person must immediately make a preliminary report to the Commission and to the consignor.
Marginal note:Contents of preliminary report
(5) The preliminary report must include information on how and where the condition was discovered and on any action that the person has taken or proposes to take with respect to it.
Marginal note:Full report
(6) Within 21 days after the condition has been discovered the consignor and the person who made the preliminary report must file a full report with the Commission that includes the following information:
(a) the date, time and location of the discovery of the condition;
(b) the names of the persons involved;
(c) the details of the packaging and packages;
(d) the probable cause;
(e) the effects on the environment, the health and safety of persons, and national or international security that have resulted or may result;
(f) the doses of radiation that any person has received or is likely to have received; and
(g) the actions taken to remedy the condition and to prevent its recurrence.
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