Developing Safety Standards

Developing and maintaining radiation safety standards in general radiation protection

Rationale- This project focuses on the establishment and maintenance of radiation protection standards and supporting guidance in relation to general radiation protection issues, including standards for regulatory practice. The "International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources" (BSS) was published in the former IAEA Safety Series in 1996 as SS115. Over the years, it has become the international benchmark for radiation safety requirements. Following a thorough review in 2006, the IAEA Safety Standards Committees RASSC and WASSC have come to the conclusion that, while no single issue creates a compelling need to revise the BSS, there is a case to be made for revision to deal with many improvements that have been suggested, provided that proposed changes are subjected to an appropriate test of merit. Guidance on applying the International Basic Safety Standards in a number of general areas will be developed. The current International Basic Safety Standards includes the radiation protection principle of justification as requirement (paragraphs 2.20-2.22): any practice involving radiation exposure should overall do more good than harm. While this principle is entirely logical, its application is not straightforward. It is intended to develop guidance to national authorities on the application of the principle of justification to proposed practices, in particular, guidance on the process that should be used by national authorities when confronted with particularly difficult proposals such as the use of x-rays for security screening and the use of radioactive material in consumer products. Another area that would benefit from further guidance is the principle of optimization and the use of dose constraints. Depending on the ICRP new recommendations to be published during 2007/2008, and how these new recommendations are taken into account during the revision of the BSS, the development of additional guidance on the use of dose constraints may be necessary. The Safety Requirements GS-R-1 "Legal and Governmental Infrastructure for Nuclear, Radiation, Radioactive Waste and Transport Safety" establishes the basic requirements for legal and governmental infrastructures for nuclear, radiation, radioactive waste and transport safety. It covers development of the legal framework for establishing a regulatory body and other actions to achieve effective regulatory control of facilities and activities using radiation sources. It also sets out requirements relating to the activities of regulatory bodies: the development of regulations and guides, establishing a process for authorization, carrying out regulatory inspections and taking necessary enforcement actions. These Safety Requirements are to be reviewed, and if considered necessary, revised. The supporting Safety Guides to GS-R-1 also need to be established and maintained. The Safety Guide DS113 "Management Systems for Regulatory Bodies" should be completed during 2008-2009.

Objective

To achieve internationally accepted up-to-date radiation safety standards and supporting guidance.

Major Tasks for 2008-2009

For further information please contact T.Boal

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Developing and maintaining safety standards and guidance for public exposure and emergency exposure situations

Rationale - The BSS includes requirements for protection of the public: detailed requirements are set out in Appendix III: Public Exposure. As there is at present little guidance in the Safety Standards Series focused specifically on public exposure, development of a Safety Guide on this topic needs to be considered, as the revision of the BSS is carried out. Exposure to indoor radon is an area in which further guidance should be given to reduce public exposure. A safety guide is being developed to provide guidance to national authorities on reducing radon exposure in dwellings. A range of action levels within which national authorities are expected to define their own action levels for radon in dwellings are given, but more detailed guidance is required – the methods of establishing national action levels, the application of these action levels to defining ‘radon-prone areas’, and the means of reducing indoor radon concentrations. In addition, guidance is necessary on the application of the principles of radiation protection to exposure to gamma-emitting radionuclides in building materials. It is expected that this safety guide will be completed during 2008-2009. Radiological emergencies of various types continue to occur, yet many of the lessons from past emergency intervention situations, ranging from the Chernobyl accident to accidents involving orphan sources, have still not been completely incorporated into the planning of all States. Moreover, without standard procedures or common approaches, protective actions can differ between countries, resulting in public confusion and mistrust of intervening agencies. This can interfere with recovery operations and possibly lead to severe social-economic and political consequences. Adequate capability for emergency response should be based on a sound technical background, which will be developed in this sub-programme.

Objective

To achieve globally accepted radiation safety standards and guidance for protection of the public against exposure to radiation and the technical basis dealing with safety standards for emergency exposure situations.

Major Tasks for 2008-2009

For further information please contact R. Czarwinski

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Developing and maintaining standards, guidance and international undertakings related to the control of radiation sources

Rationale - The continuing incidents and accidents involving radiation sources and the new concern about the possible malicious use of radioactive sources indicate a clear need for a comprehensive set of standards and guidance documents to support States in their effort to ensure an adequate level of both safety and security of radioactive sources. Safety and security of radiation sources have been addressed in Agency documents such as the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources, Safety Series No. 115 (BSS) and others within the Safety Reports and TECDOC series. However, these documents need to be kept up to date and are therefore subject to periodic review and revision, as necessary and new guidance documents developed to cover all aspects of control of sources. The current Action Plan on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, approved by the Board in September 2003 (GOV/2003/49-GC(47)/7) also addresses the need to develop further guidance, and, as appropriate, converting TECDOCs and Safety Reports into Safety Standards. In particular, guidance needs to be developed to assist Member States in fulfilling various provisions of the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources and of the supplementary Guidance on the Import and Export of Radioactive Sources, and to facilitate the exchange of information on their experience in the application of the Code. In addition, appropriate practice-specific training materials related to the control of radiation sources also need to be developed.

Objective

To achieve sustainability of the safe use of radioactive sources through the global acceptance of standards, guidance and international undertakings that provide an internationally harmonized basis for controlling radiation sources.

Major Tasks for 2008-2009

For further information please contact H. Mansoux

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Developing and maintaining safety standards and guidance for occupational exposures

Rationale - The protection of workers to exposure of radioactive material is an essential activity worldwide. Gaps in the Agency’s guidance on the issues of probability of causation from occupational exposure, protection of pregnant workers and their embryos and foetuses, and protection workers against exposure to natural radiation must be evaluated and closed. Although the development of occupational radiation protection standards and supporting documents within the Agency is generally well advanced, there are gaps in the Agency’s guidance on the issues of probability of causation from occupational exposure, protection of pregnant workers and their embryos and foetuses, and protection workers against exposure to natural radiation.

Objective

To achieve acceptance of safety standards and guidance for occupational exposure to artificial sources of radiation and to significant levels of natural radiation.

Major tasks for 2008-2009

For further information please contact R. Czarwinski


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