Class 7 is different. Every other dangerous goods class has a range of shippers — manufacturers, exporters, laboratories. Class 7 radioactive material is almost exclusively handled by nuclear facilities, hospitals, industrial radiography companies, and a small number of specialized freight forwarders.
We're one of the few logistics companies in India that handles Class 7 regularly. Here's what that actually involves.
What Counts as Radioactive Material for Air Freight
Radioactive material under IATA DGR is defined as any material with a specific activity greater than 70 kBq/kg. That includes medical radioisotopes like Technetium-99m used in nuclear medicine scans, industrial gauges, X-ray equipment, and certain research samples.
The key point: not all radioactive material is equally dangerous, and IATA categorizes them accordingly into Type A, Type B, and Type C packages — plus special form and low specific activity categories. The package type determines the transport index and the surface radiation limits.
The Permits Nobody Tells You About
Before a single gram of radioactive material moves by air in India, you need two sets of clearance. First, AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) must authorize the transport. Second, DGCA must clear the shipment under CAR Section 8 Series X. Airlines have their own DGR acceptance procedures on top of that.
This is not a process you start on Monday and finish by Thursday. Lead times for AERB transport consent can run 4-6 weeks for first-time applicants. Even for established shippers, 2-3 weeks is normal.
Packaging Is Extremely Specific
There are no improvised solutions with Class 7. The package — whether it's a Type A or Type B — must be IAEA-certified, tested, and marked with the specific radiation category label (White I, Yellow II, or Yellow III) showing the transport index.
Type B packages, used for higher activity materials, require competent authority approval. In India, that approval comes from AERB. The certificate must accompany every shipment.
Which Airlines Actually Accept Class 7
Most passenger airlines won't take radioactive material beyond certain activity limits. In practice, medical isotopes with short half-lives (like Tc-99m with a 6-hour half-life) need to move fast on the first available flight, which often means Air India or dedicated cargo carriers.
We pre-coordinate with the airline's DG acceptance desk before booking. Showing up at the airport with a Class 7 shipment and no prior notification is a guarantee of rejection — and wasted isotopes.
Temperature and Time Are Critical
Many medical radioisotopes decay rapidly. Once produced, the clock is running. We've seen hospital shipments spoil on the ground because someone got the AERB paperwork wrong and the shipment was held for 12 hours at the airport.
If you're shipping medical Class 7 material, every hour matters. That's not an exaggeration — it's physics.
Industrial Radiography
Industrial gamma sources (Iridium-192, Selenium-75) used for NDT (non-destructive testing) are a separate but common Class 7 segment. These move in shielded containers with strict surface dose rate limits. They're allowed on cargo aircraft only, never passenger. BARC certification of the source and AERB transport authorisation are both mandatory.
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