Refresher course 1B

Topic:         
From Fundamental Safety Principles to Operational Radiation Protection Programs

Lecturer(s):
Konstatinos Karfopoulus (Environmental Radioactivity Monitoring Department of Greece Atomic Energy Commission –EEAE-, Greece)

Learning objectives of the refresher course:

  • Insight into fundamental safety principles
  • Review of the elements related to the design, the development and the implementation of a Radiation Protection Programme in industries involving NORM
  • Demonstrate the reflection of the fundamental safety principles into the elements of the Radiation Protection Programme in industries involving NORM

Summary:
For most human activities involving minerals and raw materials, the level of exposure due to primordial radionuclide decay series is not a concern for radiological protection. However, there are several circumstances in which materials containing naturally occurring radionuclides are recovered, processed, used, or moved such that enhanced radiation exposures may result. In this perspective, there are industries related to NORM where exposures need to be managed as planned exposure situations. The refresher course focuses on the cases of such facilities that the development and implementation of a Radiation Protection Programme (RPP) is a requirement. For a RPP to be adequate, effective and sustainable needs to adopt, reflect through all its elements the fundamental safety principles.

Within this framework, during the refresher course, the fundamental safety principles will be reminded. It will be stressed out that they provide the basis for requirements and measures for the protection of people and the environment against radiation risks and for the safety of facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks.

In parallel, a detailed description of a RPP for industries involving NORM will be given. The course will focus on the way the design, the development, the implementation and each particular element of the RPP fulfils the basic safety fundamentals. Indicatively the elements of the RPP that indicate an effective leadership and management for safety will be presented; the elements that ensure the adoption of the optimization and dose limitations principles; the arrangements for emergency preparedness and response will be discussed while real-life examples will be demonstrated. 

List of recommended (pre)reading literature:

  1. EUROPEAN COMMISSION, FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, OECD NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY, PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Fundamental Safety Principles, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SF-1, IAEA, Vienna (2006)
  2. EUROPEAN COMMISSION, FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, OECD NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY, PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 3, IAEA, Vienna (2014)
  3. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY AND INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE, Occupational Radiation Protection, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSG-7, IAEA, Vienna (2018)
  4. Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom of 5 December 2013 laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation, and repealing Directives 89/618/Euratom, 90/641/Euratom, 96/29/Euratom, 97/43/Euratom and 2003/122/Euratom, Official Journal of the European Union (OJ L13, 17.01.2014, p. 1 -73)
  5. Radiation Protection N° 193 Radon in workplaces – Implementing the requirements in Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom, Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2020
  6. ICRP, 2019. Radiological Protection from Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) in Industrial Processes ICRP Publication 142. Ann. ICRP 48 (4)
  7. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION, Occupational Radiation Protection, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSG-7, IAEA, Vienna (2018)
  8. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Radiation Protection against Indoor Radon and Building and Construction Materials – Methods of Prevention and Mitigation, TECDOC- 1951, IAEA, Vienna (2021)
  9. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Radiation Protection and NORM Residue Management in the Zircon and Zirconia Industries, Safety Reports Series No. 51, IAEA, Vienna (2007)
  10. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Radiation Protection and NORM Residue Management in the Production of Rare Earths from Thorium Containing Minerals, Safety Reports Series No. 68, IAEA, Vienna (2011)
  11. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Radiation Protection and Management of NORM Residues in the Phosphate Industry, Safety Reports Series No. 78, IAEA, Vienna (2013)
  12. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Occupational Radiation Protection in the Uranium Mining and Processing Industry, Safety Reports Series No. 100, IAEA, Vienna (2020)
  13. NTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Radiation Protection of Itinerant Workers, IAEA Safety Reports Series No 84, IAEA, Vienna (2015)