IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency PGEC Part VI Planned Exposure Situations - Generic Requirements Module VI.3 Requirements for public exposure in planned exposure situations Postgraduate Educational Course in radiation protection and the Safety of Radiation sources

IAEA  This module will discuss the BSS generic requirements for occupational exposure in planned exposure situations :  Introduction  Scope of the requirements  Requirements and Responsibilities of the relevant parties, specific to public exposure  Radioactive waste and discharges  Monitoring and reporting  Consumer products Overview of Module VI.3 2

IAEA Introduction  Planned exposure situations involve the deliberate introduction and operation of sources. Planned exposure situations may give rise normal exposures & potential exposures  Planned exposure situations may be sub-divided into: Occupational Exposure Occupational Exposure Public Exposure Public Exposure Medical Exposure Medical Exposure - Public Exposure  This module discusses Planned Exposure Situations - Public Exposure 3

IAEA Scope  The BSS requirements in respect of public exposure in planned exposure situations apply to public exposure due to a practice or a source within a practice  For exposure due to natural sources, such requirements apply only to: Public exposure due to material in any relevant practice where the activity concentration in the material of any radionuclide in the uranium or thorium decay chains is greater than 1 Bq/g or the activity concentration of 40 K is greater than 10 Bq/g; Public exposure delivered by discharges or in the management of radioactive waste arising from a practice involving material as specified in above 4

IAEA Requirement 29: Responsibilities of the government and the regulatory body specific to public exposure The government or the regulatory body shall establish the responsibilities of relevant parties that are specific to public exposure, shall establish and enforce requirements for optimization, and shall establish, and the regulatory body shall enforce compliance with, dose limits for public exposure.  Establish the responsibilities of registrants, licensees, suppliers, and providers of consumer products in relation to the application of requirements for public exposure in planned exposure situations 5 National Laws

IAEA Responsibilities of the government and the regulatory  Establish and enforce requirements for the optimization of protection and safety for situations in which individuals are or could be subject to public exposure.  Establish or approve dose and risk constraints in relation to public exposure. For sources within a practice account to be taken of: (a ) The characteristics of the source and of the practice that are of relevance for public exposure; (b) Good practice in the operation of similar sources; (c) Dose contributions from other authorized practices or from possible future authorized practices, (d) The views of interested parties. 6

IAEA Responsibilities of the government and the regulatory  The government or the regulatory body has to establish, and the regulatory body has to enforce compliance with, the dose limits specified in Schedule III of the BSS for public exposure  Before authorizing a practice, the regulatory body has to review the safety assessments from the responsible parties that address the optimization of protection and safety, the design criteria and the design features relating to the assessment of exposure and potential exposure of members of the public. 7

IAEA Responsibilities of the government and the regulatory  The regulatory body has to establish or approve operational limits and conditions relating to public exposure, including authorized limits for discharges. These operational limits and conditions have to be set such that they: (a) are used by registrants and licensees as the criteria for demonstration of compliance (b) correspond to doses below the dose limits - with account taken of the results of optimization of protection and safety; (c) reflect good practice in the operation of similar facilities or activities; (d) allow for operational flexibility; (e) take into account the results of the assessment of the potential radiological environmental impacts undertaken in accordance with national requirements. 8

IAEA Responsibilities of the government and the regulatory  When a source within a practice could cause public exposure outside the territory under the jurisdiction of the State in which the source is located, the government or the regulatory body has to: ensure that the assessment of the radiological impacts includes those impacts outside the territory under the jurisdiction of the State; to the extent possible, establish requirements for the control of discharges; arrange with the affected State the means for the exchange of information and consultations, as appropriate. 9

IAEA Requirement 30: Responsibilities of relevant parties specific to public exposure Relevant parties shall apply the system of protection and safety to protect members of the public against exposure.  This requirement is sub-divided into: General considerations Visitors External exposure and contamination in areas accessible to members of the public 10

IAEA Responsibilities of relevant parties specific to public exposure - General considerations Registrants and licensees in cooperation with suppliers and with providers of consumer products, in relation to any public exposure delivered by a source for which they have responsibility, have to: apply the BSS requirements relating to public exposure verify and demonstrate compliance with the BSS requirements 11

IAEA Responsibilities of relevant parties specific to public exposure - General considerations  In applying the principle of optimization in the design, planning, operation and decommissioning of a source (or for closure and the post-closure period for waste disposal facilities), registrants and licensees have to take into account: Possible changes in any conditions that could affect exposure of members of the public, e.g. the characteristics and use of the source, environmental dispersion conditions, exposure pathways, values of parameters used for the determination of the representative person; Relevant good practice Possible build-up and accumulation in the environment of radioactive substances from discharges during the lifetime of the source; Uncertainties in the assessment of doses, especially uncertainties in contributions to doses if the source and the representative person are separated in space or in time. 12

IAEA Responsibilities of relevant parties specific to public exposure - General considerations Registrants and licensees have to establish, implement and maintain: (a) Policies, procedures and organizational arrangements for protection and safety in relation to public exposure (b) Measures for ensuring optimization of protection and safety, and limitation of exposure of members of the public in accordance with the authorization; (c) Measures for ensuring the safety of such sources; (d) Provision for suitable and adequate resources for the protection and safety of members of the public, commensurate with the magnitude and likelihood of exposures; 13

IAEA Responsibilities of relevant parties specific to public exposure - General considerations Registrants and licensees also have to establish, implement and maintain: (e) the necessary level of competence of personnel having functions relevant to protection and safety of members of the public through appropriate training and re-training (f) Provision for appropriate monitoring equipment, surveillance programmes and methods for assessing public exposure; (g) Adequate records of surveillance and monitoring; (h) Emergency plans, emergency procedures and emergency response arrangements, in accordance with the nature and magnitude of the radiation risks associated with the sources. 14

IAEA Responsibilities of relevant parties specific to public exposure - visitors  While in any controlled area, visitors have to be accompanied by a person who knows the measures for protection and safety for the controlled area  Information and instructions has to be given to visitors before they enter a controlled area or a supervised area  Adequate control has to be maintained over the entry of visitors to controlled area and supervised area, including the use of signs for such areas. 15

IAEA External exposure and contamination in areas accessible to members of the public External exposure of members of the public:  Details of installations have to be submitted for review and approval by the regulatory body prior to commissioning;  Shielding and other protective measures, including access control, have to be provided for restricting public exposure – particularly for industrial radiography. Contamination in areas accessible to members of the public :  Specific provisions for confinement have to be established for the design and operation of a source that could cause the spread of contamination  Protective measures, such as access control, have to be implemented for restricting public exposure due to contamination in areas within a facility that are accessible to members of the public. 16

IAEA Requirement 31: Radioactive waste and discharges Relevant parties shall ensure that radioactive waste and discharges of radioactive material to the environment are managed in accordance with the authorization. This requirement is sub-divided: Radioactive waste Discharges 17

IAEA Radioactive waste - Registrants and licensees have to ensure the following  generation of radioactive waste is minimised in terms of both activity and volume; control measures are generally applied in the following order: 1. reduce waste generation, 2. reuse items as originally intended, 3. recycle materials 4. consider disposal as waste.  separate processing of radioactive waste of different types, where warranted; physical, mechanical, chemical, radiological and biological properties are relevant and it is important to take into account the available options for waste storage and disposal;  activities for the predisposal management of and for the disposal of radioactive waste are conducted in accordance with the requirements of applicable IAEA standards, and in accordance with the authorization;  an inventory is maintained of all radioactive waste that is generated, stored, transferred or disposed of; 18

IAEA Discharges - Registrants and licensees have to  determine the characteristics and activity of the material to be discharged, and the possible points and methods of discharge;  Determine all significant exposure pathways by which discharged radio-nuclides could give rise to exposure of members of the public;  assess the doses to the representative person due to the planned discharges;  consider the radiological environmental impacts in an integrated manner with features of the system of protection and safety, as required by the regulatory body;  submit to the regulatory body the findings of the above as an input to the establishment by the regulatory body of authorized limits on discharges and conditions for their implementation.  ensure that operational limits and conditions relating to public exposure are met.  review and modify their discharge control measures, in agreement with the regulatory body, taking into account operating experience & any changes that could affect the assessment of doses due to the discharges 19

IAEA Requirement 32: Monitoring and reporting 20 The regulatory body and relevant parties shall ensure that programmes for source monitoring and environmental monitoring are in place and that the results from the monitoring are recorded and are made available.

IAEA Monitoring and reporting - regulatory body has to  Review and approve monitoring programmes of registrants and licensees, which must be capable of Verifying compliance with the requirements of the BSS Assessing doses from public exposure;  Review periodic reports on public exposure submitted by registrants and licensees;  Make provision for an independent monitoring programme;  Assess the total public exposure from all authorized practices  Make provision for maintaining records (e.g. discharges, monitoring results, dose assessments)  Verify compliance of an authorized practice with the requirements of the BSS in relation to the control of public exposure.  Publish results from source monitoring and environmental monitoring programmes, and assessments of doses from public exposure. 21

IAEA Monitoring and reporting - registrants and licensees have to  Establish and implement monitoring programmes, assess public exposure, and demonstrate compliance with the authorization. These programmes include monitoring of the following: external exposure from such sources, discharges; radioactivity in the environment; other parameters important for the assessment of public exposure.  Maintain appropriate records of the results of the monitoring programmes and estimated doses to members of the public; and publish results from source monitoring and environmental monitoring programmes and assessments of doses from public exposure.  Report monitoring results to the regulatory body, e.g. the levels and composition of discharges, dose rates at the site boundary and in premises open to members of the public, results of environmental monitoring and retrospective assessments of doses to the representative person; 22

IAEA Monitoring and reporting - registrants and licensees have to  Report promptly to the regulatory body any levels exceeding the operational limits and conditions, and any significant increase in dose rate or concentrations of radio-nuclides in the environment that could be attributed to the authorized practice  Establish and maintain a capability to carry out monitoring in an emergency, in the event of unexpected increases in radiation levels or concentrations of radio-nuclides in the environment due to accidents or other unusual events attributed to the authorized source or facility;  Verify the adequacy of the assumptions made for the assessment of public exposure and radiological environmental impacts; 23

IAEA Requirement 33: Consumer products Providers of consumer products shall ensure that such products are not made available to the public unless their use by members of the public has been justified, and either their use has been exempted or their provision to the public has been authorized.  Some uses are deemed not justified (Requirement 10) e.g. frivolous use of radiation or radioactive substances in commodities or in products such as toys and personal jewellery or adornments  Difficult to justify where use unpredictable, or benefits uncertain (because the benefit and detriment cannot be assessed) e.g. lightening preventors, antistatic brushes 24

IAEA Consumer products – Regulatory Body The regulatory body has to:  require the provider of the consumer product to provide relevant documents  verify the provider’s assessments  determine whether the end use of the product can be exempted  authorize the provision to the public of the consumer product, where appropriate, subject to specific conditions 25

IAEA Providers of consumer products have to:  comply with the conditions of the authorization  ensure that their consumer products comply with the requirements of the BSS  plan for appropriate arrangements for the servicing, maintenance, recycling or disposal of such products  provide the product retailers with appropriate information on safety, and instructions on transport and storage. 26 Consumer products - Providers of consumer products

IAEA Consumer products - Providers of consumer products Safety of consumer products should not depend on labelling, nevertheless where practicable labels have to be firmly affixed to each product stating:  product contains radioactive material (identifying the radionuclides and their activities);  sale has been authorized by the regulatory body  Information on precautions of use and required or recommended options for recycling or disposal (note: disposal in normal household refuse should be part of safety assessment and approval should imply that this is safe)  the above information also has to be on retail packaging 27

IAEA Home page for IAEA Nuclear Safety & Security: Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards GSR Part 3 (Interim) IAEA (2011) Regulatory Control of Radiation Sources, Safety Guide No. GS-G-1.5 IAEA (2004) The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP Publication 103, (2007) Further information 28