Radioactive Materials (Class 7): Shipping Requirements
By Sagan Labs AI · April 6, 2026 · 6 min read
Class 7 is classified by radioactivity level rather than chemical behaviour. Regulated packages carry two RADIOACTIVE labels on opposite sides, the transport index total across a vehicle cannot exceed 50, and handling the material at all requires a separate NRC license.
Inspect a dangerous goods package in 3 seconds.
DG Inspector reads your package photo and shipping paper, classifies the contents against IATA, IMDG, 49 CFR and ADR, and flags compliance gaps before they ground your freight.
Try DG Inspector Free →Class 7 is the only dangerous goods hazard class defined by a measurable physical property rather than a chemical behavior — the emission of ionizing radiation — and that distinction shapes every part of how radioactive shipments are classified, packaged, and controlled (Mercury).
How Class 7 Materials Are Classified
Class 7 materials are defined by activity thresholds set out in both the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and 49 CFR Part 173 (Mercury). Unlike hazard classes built around chemical properties (flammability, corrosivity, toxicity), Class 7 classification is a direct measurement question: how much ionizing radiation does the material emit, and how does that compare to the regulatory thresholds.
The Excepted Package Category
Not every radioactive shipment requires the full Class 7 compliance package. UN2910 — Radioactive Material, Excepted Package, Limited Quantity of Material — covers low-activity materials whose total activity per package falls below the limits set in IATA Table 2-13. Materials that qualify are excepted from specification packaging, most marking requirements (aside from the UN identification), labeling, and shipping papers, provided they meet general design requirements and radiation level limits (eCFR 49 CFR 173.421).
Labeling Requirements for Regulated Shipments
For Class 7 packages that don't qualify for the excepted category, the correct RADIOACTIVE label is determined by two measurements: the radiation level at the package surface, and the package's transport index. Every package that requires a RADIOACTIVE label must carry two labels, affixed to opposite sides of the package — not one (eCFR 49 CFR 172.403).
Transport Index Limits
The transport index (TI) measures the radiation intensity around a package and directly controls how many Class 7 packages can be co-located. The total transport index across all packages and overpacks in a single transport vehicle or storage location cannot exceed 50 — calculated by summing the individual TI values of every package present (eCFR 49 CFR 172.403). This is a cumulative limit, meaning a vehicle can be pushed over the threshold by several moderate-TI packages just as easily as by one high-TI package.
Licensing Is a Separate Requirement
Radioactive material shipping compliance doesn't stop at packaging and labeling. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires a license for anyone who manufactures, transfers, receives, possesses, or uses byproduct radioactive material — hospitals, industrial radiography firms, and research labs are the most common license holders (LegalClarity). A shipment can be packaged and labeled correctly and still be noncompliant if the shipper or receiver lacks the underlying NRC license required to handle the material at all.
Why Class 7 Compliance Requires More Than a Standard DG Checklist
Because classification is activity-based rather than chemical-property-based, and because a separate federal licensing regime sits on top of standard transport rules, Class 7 shipments need verification that a generic hazard-class checklist doesn't cover: confirming licensed status, calculating transport index accumulation across a full load, and applying dual labeling correctly.
How Inspection Software Helps
DG inspection software that tracks cumulative transport index across a load — not just per-package compliance — catches the specific Class 7 failure mode that's easy to miss manually: several individually-compliant packages that together exceed the transport vehicle's TI-50 limit.
The Bottom Line
Class 7 radioactive material shipping hinges on activity-based classification, correct RADIOACTIVE labeling applied to both sides of the package, careful transport index accounting across an entire load (capped at 50), and underlying NRC licensing for anyone handling the material — a compliance profile that's structurally different from every other DG hazard class.
Sources:
Ready to stop guessing at compliance?
DG Inspector turns hours of manual regulation lookup into a 3-second scan. Free to try, no credit card.
Start Free →Keep reading
- Preparing for a PHMSA Hazmat Compliance Audit
A PHMSA hazmat audit checks systems and records, not just a single shipment — here's what to expect and how to prepare documentation in advance.
- DG Training Requirements: Who Needs It & How Often
Dangerous goods training is required for anyone who classifies, packs, labels, or ships hazmat — with recurrency every 2 years under IATA, 3 under 49 CFR.
- DG Emergency Response Info: What Every Shipment Needs
Every dangerous goods shipment needs a monitored 24-hour emergency response number on the shipping paper — here's what [49 CFR](/blog/49-cfr-hazmat-compliance-checklist-us) §172.604 actually requires.
Or head back to the blog index or the DG Inspector home page.