Package Dose Rate Dispute Before Transport

No. Relabelling a package to match existing paperwork is a documentation-driven change that ignores the measured radiological characteristics. The label category must be derived from the package's actual surface dose rate, transport index, and contents, not chosen to fit a document. The measured surface dose rate of 1.9 mSv/h and the 1 m dose rate of 0.09 mSv/h are the governing data.

The discrepancy between the label and the paperwork indicates that one of them is wrong, and the correct response is to determine which. That requires re-measuring the dose rates, confirming the activity and the A2 value used, and checking the label category against the applicable thresholds. If the label is correct and the paperwork is wrong, the transport document must be corrected. If the paperwork is correct and the label is wrong, the label must be corrected on the basis of measurement, not on the basis of the document. Dispatching the same day to meet a commitment is not a justification for skipping that verification. The driver's observation should be treated as a stop signal until the discrepancy is resolved.

The claim needs to be tested against the actual requirements rather than the activity-to-A2 ratio alone. With a 60-day half-life and 14 days elapsed, the activity has decayed by a factor of about 0.85, so the activity at dispatch is roughly 3.1 GBq, still small relative to the 0.5 TBq A2 value. But excepted package provisions are not satisfied merely because the activity is a small fraction of A2; they depend on the specific activity limits for the applicable excepted package category and on the dose rate criteria, and on the package meeting the relevant design and marking requirements.

More importantly, the measured surface dose rate of 1.9 mSv/h is inconsistent with an excepted package, which must meet strict surface dose rate criteria. The high surface reading relative to the modest activity suggests shielding, geometry, or contamination issues that must be understood. The transport index derived from the 1 m dose rate also needs to be confirmed. The decay correction should be documented with the assay date, half-life, and calculation, and the activity at dispatch used consistently in the transport document and the label category determination.

Before dispatch the consignor should stop the shipment, re-measure the surface and 1 m dose rates with a calibrated instrument, confirm the activity at dispatch from the assay date and half-life, verify the A2 value and the applicable package category, check for surface contamination, and reconcile the label with the transport document. The package category should then be assigned from the measured data and the correct label applied, and the transport document corrected to match. The vehicle and the carrier's arrangements should be checked against the transport index and the segregation requirements for the assigned category.

The records should include the original assay certificate, the decay calculation, the re-measured dose rates with instrument calibration details, the corrected transport document and label, and a note explaining the discrepancy and how it was resolved. The driver's report and the consignor's response should be retained. If the package cannot be brought into compliance the same day, the delivery commitment should be renegotiated rather than met by dispatching a non-compliant package.