Safety fundamentals
Published Safety Standards
| Fundamental Safety Principles IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SF-1 Date of Issue: Wednesday, 15 November, 2006. English, Full Text, (266 kb). more details This publication is also available in French Spanish Russian Arabic Chinese |
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IAEA establishes safety standard on fundamental safety principles
A new primary IAEA safety standard, Fundamental Safety Principles, was approved for publication by the IAEA's Board of Governors in September 2006. In establishing Fundamental Safety Principles as an IAEA safety standard, the IAEA has succeeded in formulating for the first time a unified philosophy of nuclear safety and protection against ionizing radiation with a broad international consensus. Fundamental Safety Principles constitutes the conceptual basis for the IAEA's entire safety standards programme and provides the rationale for its wider safety and security related programme.
The Fundamental Safety Principles are jointly sponsored with the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD (OECD/NEA), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The new publication states the fundamental safety objective as being to protect people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation. Ten safety principles are stated and their intent and purpose are briefly explained. The safety objective and the ten safety principles provide the grounds for establishing requirements and measures for the protection of people and the environment against radiation risks, and for the safety of facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks. These include, in particular, nuclear installations and uses of radiation and radioactive sources for peaceful purposes, the associated transport of radioactive material and the management of radioactive waste.
The ten principles cover: responsibility for safety; role of government; leadership and management for safety; justification of facilities and activities; optimization of protection; limitation of risks to individuals; protection of present and future generations; prevention of accidents; emergency preparedness and response; and protective actions to reduce existing or unregulated radiation risks.
To the extent possible, the Fundamental Safety Principles have been drafted in language that is understandable to the non-specialist reader. The intention is to convey the basis and rationale for the safety standards for those at senior levels in government and regulatory bodies and those who, while responsible for making decisions concerning the uses of nuclear energy and radiation sources, may not be specialists.
Application of the Fundamental Safety Principles will facilitate the application of international safety standards and will make for greater consistency between the arrangements of different States. It is therefore desirable that all States adhere to and advocate these principles. International safety standards promote and assure confidence in safety and facilitate international commerce and trade. International cooperation serves to promote and enhance safety globally, by exchanging experience and by improving capabilities to control hazards, to prevent accidents, to respond to emergencies, and to mitigate any harmful consequences arising from the loss of control over a nuclear reactor core, nuclear chain reaction, radioactive source or other source of radiation.
The IAEA safety standards, comprising Safety Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides, are binding on the IAEA for its own operations, are applied by other sponsoring organizations for their own operations, and are recommended for use by States and national authorities in relation to their own activities. International conventions and the IAEA safety standards, appropriately supplemented by industry standards and detailed national requirements, establish a consistent and comprehensive basis for the proper protection of people and the environment against radiation risks.
To provide assurance that the Fundamental Safety Principles are subscribed to by all IAEA Member States, the IAEA Secretariat, the Nuclear Safety Standards Committee, the Radiation Safety Standards Committee, the Transport Safety Standards Committee and the Waste Safety Standards Committee were all involved in the drafting and review process. The Fundamental Safety Principles were endorsed by the Commission on Safety Standards in June 2006.
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