International Safety

Fundamentals, Standards and

Guidance
 Outline of Presentation

• IAEA’s functions and activities

• Safety standards and application
• Structure of safety standards
• Safety Fundamentals
• Safety Requirements
• BSS Radiation safety
• GSR Part 1 Infrastructure
• WS-R-3 Remediation of contaminated land
• GS-R-3 Management systems
• GSR Part 5 Predisposal management
• Safety Guides
• Application of safety standards

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 2

IAEA Safety
Functions

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 3

 Role of the IAEA

• 3 primary functions
• Safeguards of nuclear material
• Safety & security
• Nuclear applications – science & technology
• Safety
• Establish safety standards in conjunction with
others as appropriate
• Provide for the application of standards
• Upgrading infrastructure

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 4

Structure of Safety
Standards

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 5

 Structure of safety standards

• Safety Fundamentals
• Present basic objectives, concepts, principles
• Safety Requirements
• Requirements that must be met to ensure safety
• Safety Guides
• Recommended actions, conditions or procedures for
meeting the requirements

Standards are not legally binding on MSs, but are

legally binding on IAEA – its own operations and
operations assisted by IAEA

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 6

General Safety Standards Hierarchy

FUNDAMENTAL SAFETY PRINCIPLES

SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

GUIDANCE ON BEST
PRACTICE TO MEET
REQUIREMENTS

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 7

IAEA Safety Standards

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 8

Process for the Development of Safety
Standards
Outline and work plan
Prepared by the Secretariat
Review by the committees and Commission
on Safety Standards

Drafting or revising
of safety standard
by the Secretariat and consultants

Review Member
by the safety
standards States
committee(s)

Endorsement Committees
by Commission on Safety Standards
NUSSC
RASSC
Approval by the IAEA’s WASSC
Director General or BoG TRANSSC
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 9
 Safety
Fundamentals

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 10

 Safety Fundamentals (SF-1, 2006)

The fundamental safety objective is to

protect people and the environment from
harmful effects of ionizing radiation
Applies to all facilities & activities over lifetime
Ten safety principles to achieve the objective

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 11

 Safety Principles 1/3

• Principle 1: Responsibility for safety

The prime responsibility for safety must rest with the person
or organization responsible for facilities and activities that
give rise to radiation risks.
• Principle 2: Role of government
An effective legal and governmental framework for safety,
including an independent regulatory body, must be
established and sustained.
• Principle 3: Leadership and management for safety
Effective leadership and management for safety must be
established and sustained in organizations concerned with,
and facilities and activities that give rise to, radiation risks.
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 12
 Safety Principles 2/3
• Principle 4: Justification of facilities and activities
Facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks
must yield an overall benefit.
• Principle 5: Optimization of protection
Protection must be optimized to provide the highest
level of safety that can reasonably be achieved.
• Principle 6: Limitation of risks to individuals
Measures for controlling radiation risks must ensure
that no individual bears an unacceptable risk of harm.
• Principle 7: Protection of present and future
generations
People and the environment, present and future,
must be protected against radiation risks
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 13
 Safety Principles 3/3

• Principle 8: Prevention of accidents

All practical efforts must be made to prevent and mitigate
nuclear or radiation accidents.
• Principle 9: Emergency preparedness and response
Arrangements must be made for emergency preparedness
and response for nuclear or radiation incidents.
• Principle 10: Protective actions to reduce existing or
unregulated radiation risks
Protective actions to reduce existing or unregulated
radiation risks must be justified and optimized.

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 14

Safety Requirements

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 15

Safety Requirements

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 16

The relationships of the
relevant international
organizations
concerned with
radiation safety
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 17
 Decision of IAEA’s Board of Governors

In 1960, when the Board first approved

radiation protection & safety measures, it
stated:
‘The Agency’s basic safety standards … will
be based, to the extent possible, on the
recommendations of the International
Commission on Radiological Protection’

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 18

International Commission on Radiological
Protection (ICRP)

This body was

established in 1928 by
the second International
Congress of Radiology
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 19
 ICRP Recommendations

• Based on current knowledge of biological

effects of radiation; regularly revised
• Generally adopted by international agencies
& regulatory bodies as the basis for the
development of legislation, regulations, etc.
• ICRP is a non-political organization; its
members are elected on the basis of well-
recognized relevant scientific work

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 20

 The development of the international
regime

• Early 20th century – hazards from x-rays & 226Ra

• 1928 – establishment of International X ray and Radium
Protection Committee
• 1950 – renamed ICRP
• 1945 – A-bombs on Japan
• 1950s – fallout from nuclear weapon tests;
availability of artificial radionuclides
• Establishment of UNSCEAR
• Establishment of IAEA and EURATOM

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 21

 From science to control

Basic scientific studies

Scientific evaluation (UNSCEAR, BEIR, etc.)

ICRP Recommendations

IAEA Safety Standards

Regional and topical standards Industry standards (IEC, ISO)

(ILO, WHO, PAHO, NEA, FAO, CEC

National systems of control

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 22

Process for development of systems of
control

UNSCEAR Levels & Effects

Evaluation of scientific studies

ICRP Recommendations

IAEA Standards

National Systems of control

Authorities Regulations
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 23
 International regime

ICRP mandate (ICRP web site)

‘to advance for the public benefit the science of radiological
protection, in particular, by providing recommendations and
guidance on all aspects of protection against ionising
radiation’
UNSCEAR mandate (1955)
‘to assess and report levels and effects of exposure to ionizing
radiation’
IAEA mandate (1957)
‘to establish or adopt, … standards of safety … and to provide
for their application … at the request of a State’

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 24

 Other organizations

• Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Nuclear Energy Agency of OECD (NEA)
• Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO)
• European Union
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 25
 Outworking of the relationship

ICRP recommendations IAEA basic safety standards

Publication 1 (1959) Safety Series 9 (1962)
Publication 6 (1964)
Publication 9 (1966) Safety Series 9 (1967)
Publication 26 (1977) Safety Series 9 (1982) + ILO, NEA, WHO
FAO, ILO
Publication 60 (1991) Safety Series 115 (1996) + NEA,
PAHO, WHO

Publication 103 (2007) Safety Requirements (2012)

GSR Part 3

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 26

GSR Part 3 BSS

1. Introduction
2. General Safety Requirements
3. Planned Exposure Situations
4. Emergency Exposure Situations
5. Existing Exposure Situations

27
General Safety Requirements

• Application of the principles of radiation protection

• Responsibilities of the government
• Responsibilities of the regulatory body
• Responsibilities for protection and safety
• Management requirements

28
Requirement 1: Application of the principles of
radiation protection

Parties with responsibilities for protection and safety shall

ensure that the principles of radiation protection are applied
for all exposure situations

• Government
• Regulator
• Operator
• Service provider

29
Requirement 3: Responsibilities of the regulatory
body

The regulatory body shall establish or adopt regulations and guides for
protection and safety and shall establish a system to ensure their
implementation

• Standards, guidance and information

• Notification and authorisation
• Review and assessment of facilities and activities
• Inspection
• Enforcement
• Emergency planning
• Graded approach
• Management system

30
Requirement 4: Responsibilities for protection and
safety

The person or organization responsible for facilities and

activities that give rise to radiation risks shall have the prime
responsibility for protection and safety. Other parties shall
have specified responsibilities for protection and safety

• Licencees • Referring medical practitioners

• Employers • Medical physicists
• Radiological medical practitioners • Qualified experts
• Emergency response providers • Workers
• Suppliers • Ethics committees
• RPO’s

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Requirement 5: Management for protection and
safety

The principal parties shall ensure that protection and safety is effectively
integrated into the overall management system of the organizations for
which they are responsible

•The principal parties shall demonstrate commitment to protection and

safety at the highest levels within the organizations for which they are
responsible

•The principal parties shall promote and maintain a safety culture

•The principal and other parties shall take into account human factors and
support good performance and good practices to prevent human and
organizational failures

32
Safety Guides

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 33

Some Safety Standards Relevant to Public
Exposure Control

Draft Safety Guides:

•Regulatory control of
radioactive releases to the
environment from facilities
and activities
• Orphan Sources and
Other Radioactive Material
in the Metal Recycling and
Production Industries
• Radiation Protection of
the Public and the
Environment
•Radiological
Environmental Impact
Analysis for Facilities and
Activities
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 34
 Radiation Safety Guides

• RS-G-1 … Occupational exposure – general

• RS-G-2 … Occupational – internal exposure
• RS-G-3 … Occupational – external exposure
• RS-G-4 … Building competence
• RS-G-5 … Medical exposure
• RS-G-7 … Scope of control
• RS-G-8 … Environmental monitoring
• RS-G-9 … Categorization of sources
• RS-G-10 … Radiation generators & sealed sources

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 35

Waste Safety

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 36

 Waste Safety Requirements

• SSR 5 Disposal of Radioactive Waste

• WS-R-3 Remediation of Areas Contaminated by
Past Activities & Accidents
• WS-R-5 Decommissioning of Facilities Using
Radioactive Material
• GSR Part 5 Predisposal Management of R/A
waste (replaces relevant part of WS-R-2)

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 37

 Waste Safety Guides

• WS-G-2.3 Reg. Control of R/A Discharges to the Environment

• WS-G-6.1 Storage of Radioactive Waste
• WS-G-2.7 Management of Waste from the Use of R/A Material
in Medicine, Industry, Agriculture, Research and Education
• WS-G-2.5 Predisposal Management of Low & Intermediate
Level R/A Waste
• WS-G-2.6 Predisposal Management of High Level R/A Waste
• WS-G-1.2 Management of R/A Waste from the Mining &
Milling of Ores
• WS-G-3.1 Remediation Process for Areas Affected by Past
Activities & Accidents

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 38

Application of Safety
Standards

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 39

 Application of Standards
• IAEA supporting publications
• Collaboration with MS and international organizations
• Information Exchange (conferences, WEB,...)
• Research & Development
• Technical Cooperation
• Training & Education
• Appraisals, Peer Reviews
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 40
 Supporting documents

• Safety Reports
• These are not standards but provide technical
support – examples of good practice, detailed
methods
• TECDOCs etc.
• Background material, provisional material
• Transient

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 41

Other safety
activities

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 42

 Binding International Legal Instruments
 Convention on Nuclear Safety
 Joint Convention on the Safety of
Spent Fuel Management and the
Safety of Radioactive Waste
Management
 Convention on Early Notification
of a Nuclear Accident
 Convention on Assistance in the
Case of a Nuclear Accident
 Convention on the Physical
Protection of Nuclear Material
 London (Dumping) Convention
 OSPAR Convention
 Helsinki Convention

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 43

 Non-binding International Legal
Instruments
 Code of Conduct on the Safety and
Security of Radioactive Sources

• Import / Export Guidance

 Code of Conduct on the Safety of

Research Reactors

 Other documents:
 Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius
Commission’s Guideline levels for
radionuclides in foods contaminated
following a nuclear or radiological emergency
for use in international trade (ALINORM
06/29/12) - adopted by the Commission in
2006;
 WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 44
 Safety Conventions and Codes

• Conventions and Codes of Conduct have

been elaborated with high political
commitment

• IAEA is involved in servicing the

Conventions and Codes of Conduct

• IAEA Safety Standards are increasingly

complementing international instruments
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 45
 The Joint Convention

 Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel

Management & on the Safety of Radioactive Waste
Management
 Parties: 57
 Signatories: 42
 Review meetings:
 1st review meeting: November 2003
 2nd review meeting: May 2006
 3rd review meeting: May 2009
 4th review meeting: May 2011
http://www-ns.iaea.org/conventions/waste-jointconvention.htm

International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 46

 Summary

• IAEA has a responsibility to:

• Develop safety standards
• Provide for their application in Member States
• Through additional guidance, appraisals, training …
• Safety Fundamental Principles have been
developed
• Revision of the BSS is nearing completion
• IAEA also ‘services’ Conventions and non-
binding Codes of Conduct
International Safety Fundamentals, Standards, and Guides 47