Securing the transports

While the measures relating to "the safety of the transport" are intended to ensure that the transport and the transported materials do not pose any risk to man or the environment, the measures relating to "the securityof the transport" serve to prevent external influences by third parties on the safe execution of the transport.

These are, on the one hand, various constructive or technical measures which protect the casks themselves as well as the transport equipment and the transport vehicles and vessels against the effects of third parties. Strict requirements from national and international regulations apply here. The effectiveness of these measures must be comprehensively proven by the applicants for the package approvals and the transport licenses to the responsible authorities.

Furthermore, the interior authorities of the respective countries and states are primarily responsible for the actual safeguarding of transport operations. In Germany these are on the one hand the state police authorities and on the other hand the federal police for rail transport.

In order not to impair their effectiveness, security measures are generally subject to secrecy. This also includes that exact transport dates and routes are not published in advance.

The Supervision

The supervision of transports of highly radioactive or nuclear fuels in Germany is divided as follows:

  • The nuclear and dangerous goods supervision is the responsibility of the state authorities for the transport modes road, inland waterways and sea.
  • The Federal Railway Authority is responsible for the supervision of nuclear and dangerous goods transports by rail.

(Source/further information: BASE)