“The record of safety and security in transport of such materials has been good, but we must never become complacent.  The level of safety provided by the regulations continues to be high but the regulations should be kept under review and revised as necessary.”

Jim Stewart, Head of IAEA Transport Safety
President’s Findings for the International Conference on the Safe and Secure Transport of Radioactive Materials
October 2011

“Nuclear energy is important to countries that do not use nuclear energy themselves. We all share the same planet and we should encourage large industrialized countries to use clean nuclear energy in a safe manner as a means of limiting global pollution.”

Silverio Henríquez, Jr.- PhD, ChE.
The Importance of Nuclear Energy in the Global Economy.
January 2008

“Enormous thought and effort have gone into appropriate counter-measures, and this is reflected in the security arrangements… they provide a very formidable deterrent to any attempt at diversion or sabotage.”

Dr. Ron Smith
Director of International Relations and Security Studies at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Terrorism and the Maritime Shipment of Nuclear Material.
September 2006

“Since the probabilities of severe ship collisions and severe ship fires are small and the individual radiation doses that might result should such a collision or fire occur are smaller than background doses, the risk of maritime transport in Type B packages of highly radioactive material such as irradiated [used] nuclear fuel, vitrified high level waste and plutonium are very small.”

Severity, probability and risk of accidents during maritime transport of radioactive material
IAEA July 2001

“There has never been an instance of any problems with such vessels (carrying nuclear materials). These vessels have been inspected a number of times by PCC personnel to verify compliance with our regulations …The vessels whose cargo present the highest risk to the Panama Canal are … bulk carriers, such as LPG and gasoline tankers, and those with over 5 tons of …(explosives) aboard.”

Captain Dean Harder and Dr. Freddy Chen 
Panama Canal Commission 1996

“The risk to New Zealand and New Zealanders from the passage of a ship carrying
radioactive waste or plutonium through the Tasman Sea is negligible. It is as close to zero as any reasonably informed person could demand.”

Professor Alan Poletti,
Physics Department, Auckland University,
January 1997

“The marine transport of spent fuel, recycled plutonium and high level waste is being undertaken in a straight forward, reasonable way … it would be hard to think up a better regulatory structure than the one that exists.”

Professor K.B. Cady,
Cornell University,
September 1996

“So the upshot is that an accident of any kind is unlikely to happen…and the environmental damage done by any conceivable accident would be thousands of times less than that done by a single oil spill.”

Professor H.W. Lewis,
Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of California,
Former Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Risk Assessment Review Group, Member of the President’s Nuclear Safety Oversight Committee,
August 1997

“All the available information demonstrates very low levels of radiological risk and
environmental consequences from the marine transport of radioactive material …
It was the unanimous conclusion of the Member States that there was no
information or data … that would cast doubt on the adequacy of the IAEA Regulations.”

Conclusion from the joint working group of three United Nations bodies,
International Atomic Energy Agency,
International Maritime Organisation,
United Nations Environment Program,
April 1993