FAQs

  Facilitation of Safe and Secure Transport of Radioactive Material

Nuclear safety is the responsibility of every nation that utilizes nuclear technology.

National governments are responsible for regulations that govern how safety at nuclear facilities is maintained, as well as to reduce radiation risks, including emergency response and recovery actions, to monitor releases of radioactive substances to the environment and to regulate the safe decommissioning of facilities and disposal of radioactive waste.

Nuclear facility operators are ultimately responsible for the safety of their facility.

The IAEA, through the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, works to provide a strong, sustainable and visible global nuclear safety and security framework for the protection of people, society and the environment. This framework provides for the harmonized development and application of safety and security standards, guidelines and requirements; but it does not have the mandate to enforce the application of safety standards within a country.

After the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, international cooperation in nuclear safety was significantly intensified: four international safety conventions, two Codes of Conduct, fundamental safety principles and a body of globally recognized IAEA Safety Standards were developed and adopted. The IAEA's Safety Standards reflect an international consensus on what constitutes a high level of safety for protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

The IAEA takes seriously the enduring challenge for users and regulators everywhere: that of ensuring a high level of safety in the peaceful uses of nuclear materials and radiation sources around the world. The IAEA's Statute authorizes the IAEA to establish or adopt safety standards and to provide for their application to protect health and minimize the danger to life and property from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

The IAEA safety standards establish fundamental safety principles, requirements and measures to control the radiation exposure of people and the release of radioactive material to the environment, to restrict the likelihood of events that might lead to a loss of control over a nuclear reactor core or a radioactive source and to mitigate the consequences of such events if they were to occur. The standards apply to facilities, transport and waste that may harbor risks arising from ionizing radiation.

The standards are derived from three interlinked sets of documents: safety fundamentals that present the fundamental safety objectives and principles of protection and safety, and provide the basis for the safety requirements; safety requirements that ensure the protection of people and the environment now and for coming generations; and safety guides that provide international best practice in applying the safety requirements.

The preparation and review of the safety standards involves the IAEA Secretariat and four safety standards committees for nuclear safety (NUSSC), radiation safety (RASSC), the safety of radioactive waste (WASSC) and the safe transport of radioactive material (TRANSSC) and a Commission on Safety Standards (CSS) which oversees the IAEA safety standards programme.​