6 IAEA DOCUMENTS ON OCCUPATIONAL RADIATION PROTECTION IN EMERGENCY

6.1 Background

The Statute of the IAEA was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the

International Atomic Energy Agency, which was held at the Headquarters of the United Nations. It came

into force on 29 July 1957. Under the terms of Article III of its Statute, the IAEA is authorized to establish or adopt standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property, and to provide for the application of these standards.The publications by means of which the IAEA establishes standards are issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series. This series covers nuclear safety, radiation safety, transport safety and waste safety, and also general safety (i.e. all these areas of safety). The publication categories in the series are Safety Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides. Safety standards are coded according to their coverage: nuclear safety (NS), radiation safety (RS), transport safety (TS), waste safety (WS) and general safety (GS).Information on the IAEA’s safety standards programme is available at the IAEA Internet site http://www-ns.iaea.org/standards/The site provides the texts in English of published and draft safety standards. The texts of safety standards issued in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish, the IAEA Safety Glossary and a status report for safety standards under development are also available. The IAEA provides for the application of the standards and, under the terms of Articles III and VIII.C of its Statute, makes available and fosters the exchange of information relating to peaceful nuclear activities and serves as an intermediary among its Member States for this purpose.Reports on safety and protection in nuclear activities are issued in other publications series, in particular the Safety Reports Series. Safety Reports provide practical examples and detailed methods that can be used in support of the safety standards. Other IAEA series of safety related publications are the Provision for the Application of Safety Standards Series, and the Incident and Emergency Centre

(IEC) Group’s Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Series. The IAEA also issues reports on radiological accidents and other special publications. Safety related publications are also issued in the Technical Reports Series, the IAEA TECDOC Series, the Training Course Series, and the IAEA Services Series, and as

Practical Radiation Safety Manuals and Practical Radiation Technical Manuals.

6.2 History of Safety Documents

In 1958, the IAEA published its first Safety Standard, Safety Series No. 1; Safe Handling of

Radioisotopes. Over the years, some 200 publications were issued in the Safety Series. As historical

milestones, Safety Series No.6; Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material was published

in 1961, Safety Series No.9; Basic Safety Standards for Radiation Protection in 1962 and Safety Series

No.15; Radioactive Waste Disposal into the Ground in 1965.

Bottom-up approach based on the collection of the experience in

safety practices and guides was adopted until 2006. After 50 years

of essentially bottom-up approach, the Safety Fundamentals SF-1

marks the beginning of a top-down approach leading to a complete

and consistent Series

6.3 Safety StandardsThe status of the IAEA safety standards derives from the IAEA’s

Statute, which authorizes the IAEA to establish or adopt, in

consultation and, where appropriate, in collaboration with the

competent organs of the United Nations and with the specialized

agencies concerned, standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and

property, and to provide for their application. With a view to ensuring the protection of people and the

environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation, the IAEA safety standards establish fundamental

safety principles, requirements and measures to control the radiation exposure of people and the release of

radioactive material to the environment, to restrict the likelihood of events that might lead to a loss of

control over a nuclear reactor core, nuclear chain reaction, radioactive source or any other source of

radiation, and to mitigate the consequences of such events if they were to occur. The standards apply to

facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks, including nuclear installations, the use of radiation

and radioactive sources, the transport of radioactive material and the management of radioactive waste.

Safety measures and security measures have in

common the aim of protecting human life and health

and the environment. Safety measures and security

measures must be designed and implemented in an

integrated manner so that security measures do not

compromise safety and safety measures do not compromise security. The findings of the United Nations

Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) and the recommendations of

international expert bodies, notably the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), are

taken into account in developing the IAEA safety standards. Some safety standards are developed in

cooperation with other bodies in the United Nations system or other specialized agencies, including the

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the

International Labour Organization (ILO), the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the Pan American

Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

6.3.1 Hierarchy of documentsThe IAEA safety standards reflect an international consensus on what constitutes a high level of safety for

protecting people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation. They are issued in the

IAEA Safety Standards Series, which has three categories.

6.4 Safety FundamentalsAs the primary publication in the Safety Standards Series, the IAEA publication SF-1; Fundamental Safety

Principles establishes the fundamental safety objective and ten principles of protection and safety as

follows.

1. Responsibility for safety

2. Role of government

3. Leadership and management for safety

4. Justification of facilities and activities

5. Optimization of protection

6. Limitation of risks to individuals

7. Protection of present and future generations

8. Prevention of accidents

9. Emergency preparedness and response

10. Protective actions to reduce existing or unregulated

radiation risks

6.5 Safety RequirementsAn integrated and consistent set of Safety Requirements establishes the requirements that must be met to

ensure the protection of people and the environment, both now and in the future. The requirements are

governed by the objective and principles of the Safety Fundamentals. If the requirements are not met,

measures must be taken to reach or restore the required level of safety. The format and style of the

requirements facilitate their use for the establishment, in a harmonized manner, of a national regulatory

framework. Requirements, including numbered ‘overarching’ requirements, are expressed as ‘shall’

statements. Many requirements are not addressed to a specific party, the implication being that the

appropriate parties are responsible for fulfilling them.

Among documents included in the Safety Requirements, occupational radiation protection and emergency

preparedness and response are contained in General Safety Requirements (GSR) Part3; Radiation

Protection and the Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards and GSR Part7;

Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency. Here, GSR Part3 is so-called BSS

and the most important requirements for radiation protection. The description on emergency workers is

shown in Requirement 45; Arrangement for controlling the exposure of emergency workers. Furthermore,

guidance values for restricting exposure of emergency workers set out in Schedule IV, Table IV-2. These

values apply only for the dose from exposure to external penetrating radiation. Doses from exposure to

non-penetrating external radiation and from intake or skin contamination need to be prevented by all

possible means.

The revised IAEA Safety Requirements publication GS-R-2, the requirements for an adequate level of

preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency in any State will be published as GSR

Part 7.

6.6 Safety GuidesSafety Guides provide recommendations and guidance on how to comply with the Safety Requirements. Recommendations in the Safety Guides are expressed as ‘should’ statements. It is recommended to take the measures stated or equivalent alternative measures. The Safety Guides present international good practices and increasingly they reflect best practices to help users striving to achieve high levels of safety. Each Safety Requirements publication is supplemented by a number of Safety Guides, which can be used in developing national regulatory guides.A new Safety Guide; Occupational Radiation Protection will be published as a combination of five

existing Safety Guides such as

RS-G-1.1; Occupational Radiation Protection,

RS-G-1.2; Assessment of Occupational Exposure Due to Intakes of Radionuclides,

RS-G-1.3; Assessment of Occupational Exposure Due to External Sources of Radiation,

RS-G-1.6; Occupational Radiation Protection in the Mining and Processing of Raw Materials,

RS-G-3.2; The Management System for Technical Services in Radiation Safety.

For a nuclear or radiological emergency, GSG-2; Criteria for Use in Preparedness and Response for a

Nuclear or Radiological Emergency defines OILs and EALs. In GS-G-2.1; Arrangement for

Preparedness for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency Thread Category is described.

6.7 Safety Reports

The following Safety Reports are useful for occupational radiation

protection.

No.16; Calibration of Radiation Protection Monitoring

Instruments

No.20; Training in Radiation Protection and the Safe Use of

Radiation Sources

No.21; Optimization of Radiation Protection in the Control of

Occupational Exposure

No.37; Methods for Assessing Occupational Radiation Doses Due

to Intakes of Radionuclides

6.8 IAEA TECDOC

From the view point of accident and emergency the following documents are recommended as protective

action,

IAEA-TECDOC-955; Generic assessment procedures for determining protective actions during a reactor

accident,

as monitoring,

IAEA-TECDOC-1092; Generic procedures for monitoring in a

nuclear or radiological emergency,

as assessment,

IAEA-TECDOC-1162; Generic procedures for assessment and

response during a radiological emergency,

as medical follow-up,

IAEA-TECDOC-1300; Follow-up of delayed health consequences of

acute accidental radiation exposure,

as extended framework,

IAEA-TECDOC-1432; Development of an extended framework

for emergency response criteria.

6.9 Practical Radiation Technical Manuals

Practical Radiation Technical Manuals written about concrete use

are indispensable to practical training such as

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT,

INDIVIDUAL MONITORING, WORKPLACE MONITORING,

HEALTH EFFECTS AND MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE.

6.10 EPRs

Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) publications are

specially focused on radiation emergency. For bio-dosimetry on

high external exposure, Cytogenetic Dosimetry: Applications in

Preparedness for and Response to Radiation Emergencies will be

useful. Lessons Learnt from Response to Radiation Emergencies

can provide a review of the lessons from the response to a number

of radiation emergencies with the purpose of consolidating the

lessons. The manual which provides generic response procedures for medical personnel responding to

different types of radiation emergencies is Generic procedures for medical response during a nuclear or

radiological emergency.

The objective of Manual for First Responders to a Radiological Emergency is to provide practical

guidance for those responding within the first few hours of a radiological emergency. This includes the

emergency service personnel who would initially respond at the local level and the national officials who

would support this early response.