IAEA ISOE Technical Centre

Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE) Technical Centre Activities

The IAEA invites IAEA Member States with operating nuclear power plants and who are not members of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) to participate, cost-free, in this project through the IAEA ISOE Technical Centre.

ISOE Membership through IAEA

As of the 1 January, 2004 there are twelve utilities and nine authorities from eleven countries participating in the ISOE through the IAEA. These are utilities in Armenia, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Lithuania, Pakistan, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, South Africa and Ukraine (representing 47 operating reactors) and the regulatory authorities in Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Lithuania, Pakistan, Romania, Slovenia, South Africa and Ukraine.

ISOE Information Exchange

One important task for the ISOE Technical Centres is the collection of annual data on occupational exposure from the participating nuclear power plants and the transfer of the data to the European Technical Centre which maintains the central ISOE database.

Another ongoing task is the distribution of information material including, for example, information exchange on technical or safety events, and the announcements for the annual international symposia and workshops on occupational exposure management in nuclear power plants.

These symposia and workshops are since 1997 held alternatively in North America and in Europe. The 3rd EC/ISOE Workshop on Occupational Exposure Management at Nuclear Power Plants, held in Portoroz, Slovenia in April 2002 was the Tenth Anniversary of the ISOE System. The workshops' concept, with contributions from and for the radiation protection professionals, has proven to be very effective. Papers and additional information are available on the European Technical Centre website and the North American Technical Centre website.

The interactive software learning programme, RADIOR, is available, in English only, on the Internet. It is also available on diskette, in six languages (English, French, German, Russian, Spanish and Swedish). The Russian version of the OECD document on "Work Management in the Nuclear Power Industry" and the papers presented at the 2nd EC/ISOE Workshop on Occupational Exposure Management at Nuclear Power Plants, Tarragona, Spain, 2000, are vailable from the IAEA as Working Material.

ISOE Information Sheets

The following ISOE Information Sheets, issued by the IAEA ISOE Technical Centre since 1999, are available in electronic form:

Information Sheets are also distributed by the other three ISOE Technical Centres:

Technical Cooperation Projects

Two current IAEA TC projects are closely related to the IAEA ISOE programme: a Regional Project on Enhancing Occupational Radiation Protection in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Republics of the former Soviet Union (target countries: Armenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Ukraine) and a Regional Model TC project on Improving Occupational Radiation Protection in NPPs in the Asian Region (target countries: China, Korea and Pakistan). These projects have been supported since 1997 and 1999 respectively with the general objective of supporting the implementation of the optimization (ALARA) principle in NPPs in accordance with the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources.

One major element of these programmes is information exchange. In addition to workshops organized continuously within the projects, these projects have supported participation in the ISOE Workshops and occasionally also interpretation. Another important element is training, and further details on material is now available to support education, information and training on the application of the ALARA principle in NPPs.

Quality Assurance

One important task for the ISOE Technical Centres is to assure the quality of the data transferred to the central database. Taking this into account it was appropriate to focus an IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project on intercomparison for individual monitoring of external exposure, initiated in 1996, on the IAEA Member States in Eastern Europe and on personal dosimetry services for nuclear power plants.

For further information please contact P.Deboodt