The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has served an improvement notice on a specialist rail freight company that carries nuclear material.
In November 2024, Direct Rail Services Limited (DRS) temporarily suspended movements of UN Class 7 (radioactive material) dangerous goods when it was discovered that its appointed subcontractor was not complying with applicable regulations.
It was found that the subcontractor was not registered for certain practices involving radioactive material, did not have an appointed Radiation Protection Advisor or Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor in place, hadn’t performed suitable and sufficient risk assessments and adequate training for staff was not provided.
DRS, which is part of Nuclear Transport Solutions, proactively notified ONR that it had determined its subcontractor to be non-compliant with the Ionising Radiations Regulation 2017 (IRR17).
DRS stopped transport movements for five days until it was satisfied this had been rectified and operations restarted.
There was no harm caused to the public or the environment as a result of these regulatory shortfalls.
The company routinely transports Class 7 dangerous goods by rail, including Mk A2 AGR transport flasks containing irradiated fuel between EDF's advanced gas-cooled reactors from its nuclear plants to Sellafield in Cumbria.
Following ONR’s enquiries, it was also determined that various pieces of legislation had been, and continued to be, contravened by DRS and its subcontractor for the duration of the contract award.
Along with IRR17, the non-compliances related to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009; the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) Edition; and the Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID) 2023.
ONR’s enquiries concluded that DRS had an inadequate management system for the procurement of nuclear services and their supply chain management revealed shortfalls relating to auditing and surveillance activity that failed to identify that its subcontractor was not compliant.
As a result, ONR issued an improvement notice to DRS in February 2025. DRS lodged an appeal against the notice but this appeal was subsequently withdrawn.
Russell Bowden, an ONR Transport Competent Authority inspector, said: "Direct Rail Services’ notification to us at the end of last year identified shortfalls relating to their sub-contractor contravening applicable legislation.
“This means that Direct Rail Services, who engaged the services of the subcontractor carried Class 7 dangerous goods in Great Britain in breach of the legislation and so was also in contravention of the law.
“Our enquiries revealed that DRS’s management system had wider shortcomings in relation to procurement of nuclear services and failings with their processes for supply chain management and incident management and reporting.
“We will continue to engage positively with the dutyholder during the period of the improvement notice to ensure positive progress is made to address the identified shortfalls.”
DRS must comply with the improvement notice by 31 August.