Supervision of the Radwaste Shipments

Shipments of Radioactive Waste

Pursuant to Act No. 541/2004 Coll., transport of radioactive materials (RAM) means activities related to the loading of nuclear material, radioactive waste from a nuclear installation, spent fuel, institutional radioactive waste, orphaned  sources, radioactive wastes of unknown origin and unused radioactive sources at the place of loading, their transport and unloading at the place of destination, which are carried out within the framework of the nuclear facility or between nuclear facilities.

The transport system in Slovakia allows road and rail transport:

  • solid and liquid radwaste within the Bohunice area
  • solid radwaste between Bohunice and Mochovce sites
  • Radwaste covered under cross-border transport of radwaste

Transport authorisation

RAM may be transported only on the basis of a transport authorisation issued by the Authority to the carrier. It is required under Section 5(3)(j) of Act No. 541/2004 Coll.

The particulars of the submission of the application for authorisation are set out in Section 6 of Act No. 541/2004 Coll. More details of the documentation are contained in the Decree of the Authority No. 57/2006 Coll., which lays down details on requirements for the transport of radioactive materials as amended by Decree No. 105/2016 Coll.

As regards the transport authorisation, the Authority proceeds in accordance with Section 15 and Annex 2 part A of Act No. 541/2004 Coll. A special condition for issuing an authorisation within the meaning of Section 5(3)(b) of Act No. 541/2004 Coll. is also the approval of:

  • Documentation of the quality management system for authorized activities (Section 7(4) of Act No. 541/2004 Coll.)
  • Preliminary physical protection plan or physical protection plan (Section 7(5) of Act No. 541/2004 Coll.)
  • Categorization of classified equipment into safety classes (Section 7 (6) of Act 541/2004 Coll.)
  • On-site emergency plan of nuclear installation, population protection plans and emergency transport order (Section 7(8) of Act No. 541/2004 Coll.)

The time limits for issuing a transport authorisation are regulated by Section 8(5)(a) of Act No. 541/2004 Coll. On receipt of the application, the Authority, together with the necessary documentation, shall act immediately. It shall assess both the application and the documentation and, if it meets all the necessary particulars, issue an authorisation for the transport of RAM. If the documentation is incomplete or does not meet the necessary requirements in accordance with Act No. 541/2004 Coll., the Authority will ask the applicant to remove them or to supplement them. The transport authorisation is issued by the Authority for 3 years in case of transport of radioactive waste.

Type-approval of transport equipment

RAM transport can only take place in an approved type of transport equipment/. The Authority approves types of transport equipment for RAM transport within the meaning of Section 4 para. 2(a)(1) of Act No. 541/2004 Coll. The Authority shall take a decision on the application for approval of a type of transport equipment within 12 months of the initiation of the procedure. A decision on the approval of a type of transport equipment shall be issued for a maximum of 5 years. The application for approval of the type of transport equipment must be accompanied by the project of the shipment, which is more detailed in Section 7 of the Decree of the Authority No. 57/2006 Coll., which lays down details of the requirements for the transport of radioactive materials as amended by the Decree of the Authority No. 105/2016 Coll. If the transport equipment for the transport of RAM has been approved in a similar manner in the Member States or in one of the Countries of the European Free Trade Association which are also a party to the European Economic Area, we consider them to be type-approved in accordance with Act No. 541/2004 Coll.

In the case of transport equipment intended for the transport of RAM, the documentation of the tests carried out at the applicant’s expense by the authorised persons to carry out such tests shall be included in the basis for the Authority’s decision on the type-approval decision. At the same time, Decree No. 57/2006 Coll. regulates individual types of shipments in terms of limit activities as well as material restrictions.

Cross-border transport of radwaste

The requirements for cross-border transport of radwaste are stated in Section 16 of Act No. 541/2004 Coll., which defines, inter alia, the terms for cross-border shipments of radwaste and the competent supervisory authorities for  transport of radwaste, in charge that according to Section 16a are:

  1. a) the Authority – relevant for a radioactive waste transport from nuclear installations, transport of spent nuclear fuel and a transport of institutional radioactive waste from the treatment site to the repository,
  2. b) the Ministry of Transport and Construction of SR – relevant for an institutional radioactive waste transport except for the transport of institutional radioactive waste as stated in para a) above.

Cross-border shipments and related requirements are specified in Act No. 541/2004 Coll. according to the type of cross-border shipments:

  • cross-border shipments within the territory of the Member States
  • cross-border shipments outside the territory of the Member States

The licensing process permitting the international transport of radwaste consists of the following steps:

  • Type approval of transport equipment – Section 7 of the Decree of the UJD SR No. 57/2006 Coll.
  • Authorisation for the shipment of radioactive materials – Section 15 and Annex 2 part A of the Act No. 541/2004 Coll.
  • Authorisation in accordance with standard documents for international transport – Section 16 of the Act (Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel, Commission Decision 2008/312/Euratom establishing the standard document for the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel as referred to in Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom)
  • Authorisation for import/export of radwaste – Section 11 of Decree No. 30/2012 Coll.

Updated: 05.09.2022