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IAEA Basic Safety Standards, Euratom Directives and practice in some European countries

The increasing use of man-made ionizing radiations forced the scientific society to put efforts in radiation protection and nuclear safety. On international level the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is specifically authorised to establish standards of radiation protection and safety for health protection and for minimising the risk from ionizing radiation. Up to now five Basic Safety Standards (BSS) were issued. The requirements of the BSS are mainly based on the scientific achievements summarised in the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The last edition in 1996 (IAEA, BSS for Radiation Protection, Safety Series No.115, 1996) was sponsored, in addition to the IAEA, by FAO, ILO, OECD/NEA, PAHO and WHO and is based on the ICRP Publication No 60 (1991). The BSS contains the following main chapters: Principles and Fundamental Objectives, Principal Requirements and Detailed Requirements (for occupational, medical and public exposures, for emergency and chronic exposure situations) as well as guidance levels for the practice. The Standards are not obligatory for IAEA member countries, they do not have to be involved in national regulations, laws or standards. However, they serve as guidance to legislation and practice. In the European Union (EU) 32 activities are currently presented such as agriculture, environment, research etc., in which the EU manages programmes, organises events or passes legislation. One of the activities is Energy and Transport which includes also Nuclear Energy. The activities in Nuclear Energy and the Nuclear Issues of EU are the task of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). EURATOM is an international organisation composed of the members of the European Union (established 1957, EURATOM Treaty). Under the provisions of the EURATOM Treaty, the European Commission acquired the status of a supranational regulatory authority in three areas: radiation protection, supply of nuclear fissile materials and nuclear safeguards. The overall objective of the Radiation Protection unit is to protect the health of exposed workers and members of the public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation, resulting from practices using radiation or radioactive substances e.g. medical and industrial applications as well as the nuclear fuel cycle. The main areas are: exposure of the public, occupational exposure, emergency preparedness and response, natural radiation, medical exposure, environmental monitoring and assessment, education, information and training. The legislation for radiation protection appears in the form of Commission Recommendations and Council Directives. The Directives are involved in the regulations of the EU countries. Some countries outside the EU, for example Croatia, have their regulation based on the IAEA BSS. The lecture will compare the European Directives and IAEA BSS in some fields, such as the exemption levels, medical use, individual dosimetry. According to the permanent increase of knowledge in radiation protection all documents mentioned above are subject to revision. Recently, activities are going on for some revision of the IAEA BSS, for the combination of several European Directives into one (medical use of radiation, protection of outside workers, high activity field sources, the prohibition of the use in stockfarming of certain substances, information of the general public about health protection measures in the event of a radiological emergency) and for the consolidation of the EURATOM BSS.

BSS; European Directives; clearence; individual dosimetry; regilations

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