10 C.F.R. § 71.4

Current through September 30, 2024

Section 71.4 - Definitions

The following terms are as defined here for the purpose of this part. To ensure compatibility with international transportation standards, all limits in this part are given in terms of dual units: The International System of Units (SI) followed or preceded by U.S. standard or customary units. The U.S. customary units are not exact equivalents but are rounded to a convenient value, providing a functionally equivalent unit. For the purpose of this part, either unit may be used.

A1 means the maximum activity of special form radioactive material permitted in a Type A package. This value is either listed in Appendix A, Table A-1, of this part, or may be derived in accordance with the procedures prescribed in Appendix A of this part.

A2 means the maximum activity of radioactive material, other than special form material, LSA, and SCO material, permitted in a Type A package. This value is either listed in Appendix A, Table A-1, of this part, or may be derived in accordance with the procedures prescribed in Appendix A of this part.

Carrier means a person engaged in the transportation of passengers or property by land or water as a common, contract, or private carrier, or by civil aircraft.

Certificate holder means a person who has been issued a certificate of compliance or other package approval by the Commission.

Certificate of Compliance (CoC) means the certificate issued by the Commission under subpart D of this part which approves the design of a package for the transportation of radioactive material.

Close reflection by water means immediate contact by water of sufficient thickness for maximum reflection of neutrons.

Consignment means each shipment of a package or groups of packages or load of radioactive material offered by a shipper for transport.

Containment system means the assembly of components of the packaging intended to retain the radioactive material during transport.

Contamination means the presence of a radioactive substance on a surface in quantities in excess of 0.4 Bq/cm² (1 * 10^-5 [MICRO]Ci/cm²) for beta and gamma emitters and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 0.04 Bq/cm² (1 * 10^-6 [MICRO]Ci/cm²) for all other alpha emitters.

(1)Fixed contamination means contamination that cannot be removed from a surface during normal conditions of transport.

(2)Non-fixed contamination means contamination that can be removed from a surface during normal conditions of transport.

Conveyance means:

(1) For transport by public highway or rail any transport vehicle or large freight container;

(2) For transport by water any vessel, or any hold, compartment, or defined deck area of a vessel including any transport vehicle on board the vessel; and

(3) For transport by any aircraft.

Criticality Safety Index (CSI) means the dimensionless number (rounded up to the next tenth) assigned to and placed on the label of a fissile material package, to designate the degree of control of accumulation of packages, overpacks or freight containers containing fissile material during transportation. Determination of the criticality safety index is described in §§ 71.22 , 71.23 , and 71.59 . The criticality safety index for an overpack, freight container, consignment or conveyance containing fissile material packages is the arithmetic sum of the criticality safety indices of all the fissile material packages contained within the overpack, freight container, consignment or conveyance.

Deuterium means, for the purposes of §§ 71.15 and 71.22 , deuterium and any deuterium compounds, including heavy water, in which the ratio of deuterium atoms to hydrogen atoms exceeds 1:5000.

DOT means the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Exclusive use means the sole use by a single consignor of a conveyance for which all initial, intermediate, and final loading and unloading are carried out in accordance with the direction of the consignor or consignee. The consignor and the carrier must ensure that any loading or unloading is performed by personnel having radiological training and resources appropriate for safe handling of the consignment. The consignor must issue specific instructions, in writing, for maintenance of exclusive use shipment controls, and include them with the shipping paper information provided to the carrier by the consignor.

Fissile material means the radionuclides uranium-233, uranium-235, plutonium-239, and plutonium-241, or any combination of these radionuclides. Fissile material means the fissile nuclides themselves, not material containing fissile nuclides. Unirradiated natural uranium and depleted uranium and natural uranium or depleted uranium, that has been irradiated in thermal reactors only, are not included in this definition. Certain exclusions from fissile material controls are provided in § 71.15 .

Graphite means, for the purposes of §§ 71.15 and 71.22 , graphite with a boron equivalent content less than 5 parts per million and density greater than 1.5 grams per cubic centimeter.

Indian tribe means an Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian Tribe pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994, 25 U.S.C. 5130 .

Licensed material means byproduct, source, or special nuclear material received, possessed, used, or transferred under a general or specific license issued by the Commission pursuant to the regulations in this chapter.

Low Specific Activity (LSA) material means radioactive material with limited specific activity which is nonfissile or is excepted under § 71.15 , and which satisfies the descriptions and limits set forth in the following section. Shielding materials surrounding the LSA material may not be considered in determining the estimated average specific activity of the package contents. The LSA material must be in one of three groups:

(1) LSA-I.

(i) Uranium and thorium ores, concentrates of uranium and thorium ores, and other ores containing naturally occurring radionuclides that are intended to be processed for the use of these radionuclides;

(ii) Natural uranium, depleted uranium, natural thorium or their compounds or mixtures, provided they are unirradiated and in solid or liquid form;

(iii) Radioactive material other than fissile material, for which the A₂ value is unlimited; or

(iv) Other radioactive material in which the activity is distributed throughout and the estimated average specific activity does not exceed 30 times the value for exempt material activity concentration determined in accordance with appendix A.

(2) LSA-II.

(i) Water with tritium concentration up to 0.8 TBq/liter (20.0 Ci/liter); or

(ii) Other radioactive material in which the activity is distributed throughout and the estimated average specific activity does not exceed 10^-4 A₂/g for solids and gases, and 10^-5 A₂/g for liquids.

(3) LSA-III. Solids (e.g., consolidated wastes, activated materials), excluding powders, that satisfy the requirements of § 71.77 , in which:

(i) The radioactive material is distributed throughout a solid or a collection of solid objects, or is essentially uniformly distributed in a solid compact binding agent (such as concrete, bitumen, ceramic, etc.);

(ii) The radioactive material is relatively insoluble, or it is intrinsically contained in a relatively insoluble material, so that even under loss of packaging, the loss of radioactive material per package by leaching when placed in water for 7 days will not exceed 0.1 A₂; and

(iii) The estimated average specific activity of the solid, excluding any shielding material, does not exceed 2 * 10^-3 A₂/g.

Low toxicity alpha emitters means natural uranium, depleted uranium, natural thorium; uranium-235, uranium-238, thorium-232, thorium-228 or thorium-230 when contained in ores or physical or chemical concentrates or tailings; or alpha emitters with a half-life of less than 10 days.

Maximum normal operating pressure means the maximum gauge pressure that would develop in the containment system in a period of 1 year under the heat condition specified in § 71.71(c)(1) , in the absence of venting, external cooling by an ancillary system, or operational controls during transport.

Natural thorium means thorium with the naturally occurring distribution of thorium isotopes (essentially 100 weight percent thorium-232).

Normal form radioactive material means radioactive material that has not been demonstrated to qualify as "special form radioactive material."

Optimum interspersed hydrogenous moderation means the presence of hydrogenous material between packages to such an extent that the maximum nuclear reactivity results.

Package means the packaging together with its radioactive contents as presented for transport.

(1) Fissile material package or Type AF package, Type BF package, Type B(U)F package, or Type B(M)F package means a fissile material packaging together with its fissile material contents.

(2) Type A package means a Type A packaging together with its radioactive contents. A Type A package is defined and must comply with the DOT regulations in 49 CFR Part 173 .

(3) Type B package means a Type B packaging together with its radioactive contents. On approval, a Type B package design is designated by NRC as B(U) unless the package has a maximum normal operating pressure of more than 700 kPa (100 lbs/in²) gauge or a pressure relief device that would allow the release of radioactive material to the environment under the tests specified in § 71.73 (hypothetical accident conditions), in which case it will receive a designation B(M). B(U) refers to the need for unilateral approval of international shipments; B(M) refers to the need for multilateral approval of international shipments. There is no distinction made in how packages with these designations may be used in domestic transportation. To determine their distinction for international transportation, see DOT regulations in 49 CFR Part 173. A Type B package approved before September 6, 1983, was designated only as Type B. Limitations on its use are specified in § 71.19 .

Packaging means the assembly of components necessary to ensure compliance with the packaging requirements of this part. It may consist of one or more receptacles, absorbent materials, spacing structures, thermal insulation, radiation shielding, and devices for cooling or absorbing mechanical shocks. The vehicle, tie-down system, and auxiliary equipment may be designated as part of the packaging.

Special form radioactive material means radioactive material that satisfies the following conditions:

(1) It is either a single solid piece or is contained in a sealed capsule that can be opened only by destroying the capsule;

(2) The piece or capsule has at least one dimension not less than 5 mm (0.2 in); and

(3) It satisfies the requirements of § 71.75 . A special form encapsulation designed in accordance with the requirements of § 71.4 in effect on June 30, 1983 (see 10 CFR part 71 , revised as of January 1, 1983), and constructed before July 1, 1985; a special form encapsulation designed in accordance with the requirements of § 71.4 in effect on March 31, 1996 (see 10 CFR part 71, revised as of January 1, 1996), and constructed before April 1, 1998; and special form material that was successfully tested before September 10, 2015 in accordance with the requirements of § 71.75(d) of this section in effect before September 10, 2015 may continue to be used. Any other special form encapsulation must meet the specifications of this definition.

Specific activity of a radionuclide means the radioactivity of the radionuclide per unit mass of that nuclide. The specific activity of a material in which the radionuclide is essentially uniformly distributed is the radioactivity per unit mass of the material.

Spent nuclear fuel or Spent fuel means fuel that has been withdrawn from a nuclear reactor following irradiation, has undergone at least 1 year's decay since being used as a source of energy in a power reactor, and has not been chemically separated into its constituent elements by reprocessing. Spent fuel includes the special nuclear material, byproduct material, source material, and other radioactive materials associated with fuel assemblies.

State means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Surface Contaminated Object (SCO) means a solid object that is not itself classed as radioactive material, but which has radioactive material distributed on any of its surfaces. SCO must be in one of two groups with surface activity not exceeding the following limits:

(1) SCO-I: A solid object on which:

(i) The nonfixed contamination on the accessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 4 Bq/cm² (10^-4 microcurie/cm²) for beta and gamma and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 0.4 Bq/cm² (10^-5 microcurie/cm²) for all other alpha emitters;

(ii) The fixed contamination on the accessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 4 * 10⁴ Bq/cm² (1.0 microcurie/cm²) for beta and gamma and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 4 * 10³ Bq/cm² (0.1 microcurie/cm²) for all other alpha emitters; and

(iii) The nonfixed contamination plus the fixed contamination on the inaccessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 4 * 10⁴ Bq/cm² (1 microcurie/cm²) for beta and gamma and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 4 * 10³ Bq/cm² (0.1 microcurie/cm²) for all other alpha emitters.

(2) SCO-II: A solid object on which the limits for SCO-I are exceeded and on which:

(i) The nonfixed contamination on the accessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 400 Bq/cm² (10^-2 microcurie/cm²) for beta and gamma and low toxicity alpha emitters or 40 Bq/cm² (10^-3 microcurie/cm²) for all other alpha emitters;

(ii) The fixed contamination on the accessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 8 * 10⁵ Bq/cm² (20 microcuries/cm²) for beta and gamma and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 8 * 10⁴ Bq/cm² (2 microcuries/cm²) for all other alpha emitters; and

(iii) The nonfixed contamination plus the fixed contamination on the inaccessible surface averaged over 300 cm² (or the area of the surface if less than 300 cm²) does not exceed 8 * 10⁵ Bq/cm² (20 microcuries/cm²) for beta and gamma and low toxicity alpha emitters, or 8 * 10⁴ Bq/cm² (2 microcuries/cm²) for all other alpha emitters.

Transport index (TI) means the dimensionless number (rounded up to the next tenth) placed on the label of a package, to designate the degree of control to be exercised by the carrier during transportation. The transport index is the number determined by multiplying the maximum radiation level in millisievert (mSv) per hour at 1 meter (3.3 ft) from the external surface of the package by 100 (equivalent to the maximum radiation level in millirem per hour at 1 meter (3.3 ft)).

Tribal official means the highest ranking individual that represents Tribal leadership, such as the Chief, President, or Tribal Council leadership.

Type A quantity means a quantity of radioactive material, the aggregate radioactivity of which does not exceed A₁ for special form radioactive material, or A₂, for normal form radioactive material, where A₁ and A₂ are given in Table A-1 of this part, or may be determined by procedures described in Appendix A of this part.

Type B quantity means a quantity of radioactive material greater than a Type A quantity.

Unirradiated uranium means uranium containing not more than 2 * 10³ Bq of plutonium per gram of uranium-235, not more than 9 * 10⁶ Bq of fission products per gram of uranium-235, and not more than 5 * 10^-3 g of uranium-236 per gram of uranium-235.

Uranium-natural, depleted, enriched.

(1) Natural uranium means uranium (which may be chemically separated) with the naturally occurring distribution of uranium isotopes (approximately 0.711 weight percent uranium-235, and the remainder by weight essentially uranium-238).

(2) Depleted uranium means uranium containing less uranium-235 than the naturally occurring distribution of uranium isotopes.

(3) Enriched uranium means uranium containing more uranium-235 than the naturally occurring distribution of uranium isotopes.

10 C.F.R. §71.4

69 FR 3786, Jan. 26, 2004, as amended at 69 FR 58038, Sept. 29, 2004; 77 FR 34204, June 11, 2012; 80 FR 34011, June 12, 2015; 80 FR 48684, Aug. 14, 2015; 80 FR 74981, Dec. 1, 2015; 82 FR 52825, Nov. 15, 2017; 86 FR 67843, Nov. 30, 2021

82 FR 52825, 12/15/2017; 86 FR 67839, 12/30/2021