Materials Transportation

What We Regulate

About 3 million packages of radioactive materials are shipped each year in the United States, either by highway, rail, air, or water. Regulating the safety of these shipments is the joint responsibility of the NRC and the Department of Transportation. The NRC establishes requirements for the design and manufacture of packages for radioactive materials. The Department of Transportation regulates the shipments while they are in transit, and sets standards for labeling and smaller quantity packages. See Title 49, Transportation, of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.

How We Regulate

The NRC oversees the safety of the transportation of nuclear materials through a combination of regulatory requirements, transportation package certification, inspections, and a system of monitoring to ensure that safety requirements are being met. See our How We Regulate page for general information. See the following for details:

• Regulations, Guidance, and Communications
• Package Certification
• Shipping Requirements
• Oversight
• Transportation Packages