Packages requiring competent authority approval of the design shall meet the requirements of ADR in full unless the following conditions are met:

(a)    The packagings were manufactured to a package design approved by the competent authority under the provisions of the 1973 or 1973 (as amended) or the 1985 or 1985 (as amended 1990) Editions of IAEA Safety Series No.6;

(b)    The package design is subject to multilateral approval;

(c)    The applicable requirements of 1.7.3 are applied;

(d)    The activity limits and classification in 2.2.7 are applied;

(e)    The requirements and controls for carriage in Parts 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 are applied;

(f)    (Reserved)

(g)    For packages that meet the requirements of the 1973 or 1973 (as amended) Editions of IAEA Safety Series No. 6:

(i)    The packages retain sufficient shielding to ensure that the radiation level at 1 m from   the surface of the package would not exceed 10 mSv/h in the accident conditions of carriage defined in the 1973 Revised or 1973 Revised (as amended) Editions of IAEA
 

Safety Series No.6 with the maximum radioactive contents which the package is authorized to contain;

(ii)    The packages do not utilize continuous venting;

(iii)    A serial number in accordance with the provision of 5.2.1.7.5 is assigned to and marked on the outside of each packaging.
 

No new manufacture of packagings to a package design meeting the provisions of the 1973, 1973 (as amended), 1985, and 1985 (as amended 1990) Editions of IAEA Safety Series No.6 shall be permitted to commence.

ADR establishes standards of safety which provide an acceptable level of control of the radiation, criticality and thermal hazards to persons, property and the environment that are associated with the carriage of radioactive material. These standards are based on the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive material, 2012 Edition, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSR–6, IAEA, Vienna (2012). Explanatory material can be found in “Advisory Material for the IAEA Regulations  for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (2012 Edition)”, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-26, IAEA, Vienna (2014).

The objective of ADR is to establish requirements that shall be satisfied to ensure safety and to protect persons, property and the environment from the effects of radiation in the carriage of radioactive material. This protection is achieved by requiring:

(a)    Containment of the radioactive contents;

(b)    Control of external radiation levels;

(c)    Prevention of criticality; and

(d)    Prevention of damage caused by heat.

These requirements are satisfied firstly by applying a graded approach to contents limits for packages and vehicles and to performance standards applied to package designs depending upon the hazard of the radioactive contents. Secondly, they are satisfied by imposing conditions on the design and operation of packages and on the maintenance of packagings, including a consideration of the nature of the radioactive contents. Finally, they are satisfied by requiring administrative controls including, where appropriate, approval by competent authorities.
 

ADR applies to the carriage of radioactive material by road including carriage which is incidental to the use of the radioactive material. Carriage comprises all operations and conditions associated with and involved in the movement of radioactive material; these include the design, manufacture, maintenance and repair of packaging, and the preparation, consigning, loading, carriage including in- transit storage, unloading and receipt at the final destination of loads of radioactive material and packages. A graded approach is applied to the performance standards in ADR that are characterized   by three general severity levels:

(a)    Routine conditions of carriage (incident free);

(b)    Normal conditions of carriage (minor mishaps);

(c)    Accident conditions of carriage.
 

The provisions laid down in ADR do not apply to any of the following:

(a)    Radioactive material that is an integral part of the means of transport;

(b)    Radioactive material moved within an establishment which is subject to appropriate safety regulations in force in the establishment and where the movement does not involve public  roads or railways;

(c)    Radioactive material implanted or incorporated into a person or live animal for diagnosis or treatment;

(d)    Radioactive material in or on a person who is to be transported for medical treatment because the person has been subject to accidental or deliberate intake of radioactive material or to contamination;

(e)    Radioactive material in consumer products which have received regulatory approval, following their sale to the end user;

(f)    Natural material and ores containing naturally occurring radionuclides (which may have been processed), provided the activity concentration of the material does not exceed 10 times the values specified in Table 2.2.7.2.2.1, or calculated in accordance with 2.2.7.2.2.2 (a) and 2.2.7.2.2.3 to 2.2.7.2.2.6. For natural materials and ores containing naturally occurring radionuclides that are not in secular equilibrium the calculation of the activity concentration shall be performed in accordance with 2.2.7.2.2.4;

(g)    Non-radioactive solid objects with radioactive substances present on any surfaces in quantities not in excess of the limit set out in the definition for "contamination" in 2.2.7.1.2.
 

Excepted packages which may contain radioactive material in limited quantities, instruments, manufactured articles or empty packagings as specified in 2.2.7.2.4.1 shall be subject only to the following provisions of Parts 5 to 7:

(a)    The applicable provisions specified in 5.1.2.1, 5.1.3.2, 5.1.5.2.2, 5.1.5.2.3, 5.1.5.4, 5.2.1.10,
7.5.11 CV33 (3.1), (5.1) to (5.4) and (6); and

(b)    The requirements for excepted packages specified in 6.4.4.

except when the radioactive material possesses other hazardous properties and has to be classified in a class other than Class 7 in accordance with special provision 290 or 369 of Chapter 3.3, where the provisions listed in (a) and (b) above apply only as relevant and in addition to those relating to the main class.

Excepted packages are subject to the relevant provisions of all other parts of ADR. If the excepted package contains fissile material, one of the fissile exceptions provided by 2.2.7.2.3.5 shall apply and the requirements of 7.5.11 CV33 (4.3) shall be met.