Radon and the system of radiological protection

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 389-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.F. Lecomte
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Risk Exposure ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Dose Limit ◽  
Draft Report ◽  
Radon Exposure ◽  
Preventive Actions ◽  
Transfer Mechanisms ◽  
Radon Risk

At its meeting in Porto, Portugal, in November 2009, the Main Commission of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) approved the formation of a new Task Group, reporting to Committee 4, to develop guidance on radiological protection against radon exposure. This article describes the Task Group's draft report entitled “Radiological Protection against Radon Exposure” which has been posted on the ICRP website for public consultation between January and June 2012. In this report, the Commission provides updated guidance on radiological protection against radon exposure. The report was developed considering the recently consolidated ICRP general recommendations, the new scientific knowledge about radon risk, and the experience gained by many organisations and countries in the control of radon exposure. The report describes the characteristics of radon exposure, covering sources and transfer mechanisms, nature of the risk, exposure conditions, similarities with other existing exposure situations, and challenges to manage radon exposure. In order to control radon exposure, the Commission recommends an integrated approach that is focused as much as possible on the management of the building or location in which radon exposure occurs, regardless of the purpose of the building and the category of the occupants. This approach is based on the optimisation principle, and a graded approach according to the degree of responsibilities at stake, notably in workplaces, and the level of ambition of the national authorities. The report emphasises the importance of preventive actions, and provides recommendations on how to control radon exposure in workplaces when workers’ exposure can reasonably be regarded as being the responsibility of the operating management. In such a case, workers’ exposures are considered to be occupational, and are controlled using the corresponding requirements on the basis of the optimisation principle, and application, as appropriate, of the dose limit.

scholarly journals ALLIANCE perspectives on integration of humans and the environment into the system of radiological protection

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 285-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Vandenhove ◽  
C. Bradshaw ◽  
N.A. Beresford ◽  
J. Vives i Batlle ◽  
A. Real ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Risk Exposure ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Transport Models ◽  
Stochastic Effects ◽  
Transfer Processes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Risk Assessment And Management

Risks posed by the presence of radionuclides in the environment require an efficient, balanced, and adaptable assessment for protecting exposed humans and wildlife, and managing the associated radiological risk. Exposure of humans and wildlife originate from the same sources releasing radionuclides to the environment. Environmental concentrations of radionuclides serve as inputs to estimate the dose to man, fauna, and flora, with transfer processes being, in essence, similar, which calls for a common use of transport models. Dose estimates are compared with the radiological protection criteria for humans and wildlife, such as those developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. This indicates a similarity in the approaches for impact assessment in humans and wildlife, although some elements are different (e.g. the protection endpoint for humans is stochastic effects on individuals, whereas for wildlife, it is deterministic effects on species and ecosystems). Human and environmental assessments are consistent and complementary in terms of how they are conducted and in terms of the underlying databases (where appropriate). Not having an integrated approach may cause difficulties for operators and regulators, for communication to stakeholders, and may even hamper decision making. For optimised risk assessment and management, the impact from non-radiation contaminants and stressors should also be considered. Both in terms of the underlying philosophy and the application via appropriate tools, the European Radioecology Alliance (ALLIANCE) upholds that integration of human and ecological impact and risk assessment is recommended from several perspectives (e.g. chemical/radiological risks).

scholarly journals Designing an Indoor Radon Risk Exposure Indicator (IRREI): An Evaluation Tool for Risk Management and Communication in the IoT Age

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 7907
Author(s):  
Sérgio Ivan Lopes ◽  
Leonel J. R. Nunes ◽  
António Curado
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Indoor Radon ◽  
Data Representation ◽  
Risk Exposure ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Data Validation ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Exposure Indicator ◽  
Radon Risk

The explosive data growth in the current information age requires consistent new methodologies harmonized with the new IoT era for data analysis in a space–time context. Moreover, intuitive data visualization is a central feature in exploring, interpreting, and extracting specific insights for subsequent numerical data representation. This integrated process is normally based on the definition of relevant metrics and specific performance indicators, both computed upon continuous real-time data, considering the specificities of a particular application case for data validation. This article presents an IoT-oriented evaluation tool for Radon Risk Management (RRM), based on the design of a simple and intuitive Indoor Radon Risk Exposure Indicator (IRREI), specifically tailored to be used as a decision-making aid tool for building owners, building designers, and buildings managers, or simply as an alert flag for the problem awareness of ordinary citizens. The proposed methodology was designed for graphic representation aligned with the requirements of the current IoT age, i.e., the methodology is robust enough for continuous data collection with specific Spatio-temporal attributes and, therefore, a set of adequate Radon risk-related metrics can be extracted and proposed. Metrics are summarized considering the application case, taken as a case study for data validation, by including relevant variables to frame the study, such as the regulatory International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) dosimetric limits, building occupancy (spatial dimension), and occupants’ exposure periods (temporal dimension). This work has the following main contributions: (1) providing a historical perspective regarding RRM indicator evolution along time; (2) outlining both the formulation and the validation of the proposed IRREI indicator; (3) implementing an IoT-oriented methodology for an RRM indicator; and (4) a discussion on Radon risk public perception, undertaken based on the results obtained after assessment of the IRREI indicator by applying a screening questionnaire with a total of 873 valid answers.

scholarly journals PROVISION OF THE PUBLIC RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION AGAINST RADON EXPOSURE. CHALLENGES AND RESOLUTIONS

2018 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey M. Kiselev ◽  
I. P. Stamat ◽  
A. M. Marenny ◽  
L. A. Ilyin
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Protection ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Radon Exposure ◽  
The Public ◽  
Current State ◽  
Russian President ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
State Of Affairs

In the Year of Ecology, announced by the Russian President in the Decree №7, 05/01/16, the authors aim both to draw the attention of the scientific community to the public radiological protection issues concerning radon exposure in Russia and to recognize the neccesity of their resolution. Taking into account the modern scientific evidence on the health impacts of radon and its progenies, the changes of the regulatory approaches to public radiation protection are analyzed. Considering modern challenges in the radon control the current state of affairs in Russia is reviewed. The achieved results in public radiation protection in Russia and new challenges are discussed taking into account new WHO, ICRP and IAEA recommendations. The potential means to improve the current national radon strategy are considered.

scholarly journals Effective dose coefficients for inhaled radon and its progeny: ICRP’s approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 03002
Author(s):  
James W. Marsh ◽  
John D. Harrison ◽  
Dominique Laurier ◽  
Margot Tirmarche
Keyword(s):  
Effective Dose ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Radon Progeny ◽  
Cancer Risks ◽  
Radon Exposure ◽  
Dosimetric Data ◽  
Aerosol Parameter ◽  
Dose Coefficients ◽  
Parameter Values

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has recently published three reports on radon exposure: (i) Publication 115 on lung cancer risks from radon and radon progeny [1], (ii) Publication 126 on radiological protection against radon exposure [2] and (iii) Publication 137 on Occupational Intakes of Radionuclides (OIR), Part 3 [3]. The latter document gives doses coefficients for the inhalation of radon, thoron and their airborne progeny as well as recommendations for their use for the protection of workers. As with all other radionuclides, the effective dose coefficients are calculated with ICRP reference biokinetic and dosimetric models. Sufficient information and dosimetric data are given so that site-specific dose coefficients can be calculated based on measured aerosol parameter values.

An Integrated Approach to Map Tubular Degradation in ONWJ Field

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Sajjad
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Field Performance ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Oil And Gas Fields ◽  
Preventive Actions ◽  
Infill Drilling ◽  
Actual Field ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Gas Fields

Tubular engineering is essential for production operations, especially in mature oil and gas fields. The complex interaction between hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon components will eventually result in tubulars deteriorating into poor condition and performance. 1500 well examples are located in field X, Indonesia, in which 70% of them have been producing for more than 30 years, indicating the existence of tubular thinning and deformation. The degradation is slowly developed until severe alterations are observed on the tubing body. The situation from the aforementioned wells is complicated since tubular deformation inhibits the flow as well as increasing the risk of wellbore collapse and complications during sidetracking, infill drilling, workover, and other production enhancement measures. These wells are subjected to costly remedial measures and often result in unsuccessful recovery efforts. The authors present the degree of tubular degradation and its effect to overall field performance and the possibility of tubular failure. Current field practices do not encourage a thorough tubular assessment during early life of the wells, which create complex problems at a later stage. Eventually, the study indicates that proper planning and preventive actions should be performed gradually before tubular degradation becomes severe. This paper presents a field experience-based model that is useful in developing new areas from the perspective of well and facilities integrity, so that the degradation-related issues can be recognized earlier. We used multiple case studies with actual field data to identify the dominant mechanism for tubular degradation. The case study presented a model that is capable to describe the extent of tubular degradation in offshore, mature wells that are prone to stress from its surroundings. Lessons learned from these failures encourages us to conduct a comprehensive study on tubular degradation. It is performed to model the incorporation of multiple degradation mechanisms on tubular performance.

UNIVERSAL RADIATION PROTECTION SYSTEM (URPS); A NATURAL GLOBAL STANDARDISED TREND FOR HUMAN EXPOSURE CONTROL IN 21st CENTURY

2019 ◽  
Vol 184 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 277-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Sohrabi
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Protection ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Risk Estimation ◽  
Health Effect ◽  
Protection System ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Exposure Control ◽  
Dose Limit ◽  
The Many

Abstract In order to address the many deficiencies with current radiological protection system worldwide, this paper proposes a new Universal Radiation Protection System (URPS) Hypothesis with novel philosophy, concepts and methodologies of applying principles of equal human health-effect risks of an individual per unit radiation dose either from environmental natural background (NBG) or man-made sources; a ‘standardised integrated dose system’ for integrating all individual doses with emphasis on national NBG doses; considering worker as a member of public; and a ‘cause–effect conservation principle’ for epidemiology risk estimation. The URPS also a radiation hypothesises fractionation weighting factors (WF); a ‘URPS Model’ for bridging ‘linear no-threshold and hormesis models’; example dose limit for workers; as well as new terms and definitions. State-of-the-art developments on URPS hypothesis are presented and discussed with simple global natural trends for standardised human exposure control in order to protect workers, patients, public and environment by standardised methods independent of source and country of origin in the 21st century.

An Improved Method for Estimating the Dose to the Lens of the Eye Using Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) Measurements

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peri Eyal ◽  
Abraham Adi ◽  
Kravchik Tuvia ◽  
Weinstein Marcelo ◽  
Sattinger Daniel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Method ◽  
International Commission ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Improved Method ◽  
Dose Limit ◽  
Routine Monitoring ◽  
Recent Recommendation ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

Recent recommendation, by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), to reduce the dose limit to the lens of the eye by almost an order of magnitude, has increased substantially the need to monitor this dose, i.e., Hp(3), with an accurate dosimeter. Since such dosimeter has not yet been validated and fully implemented, present monitoring of the dose to the lens of the eye is based on the measurement of Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) values and using conservative assumptions, which lead to an overestimate of the required dose. A new method to estimate Hp(3) using measured values of Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) has been suggested, which is more accurate and less conservative. This method could be used for routine monitoring and also in cases where there is a need to reconstruct historical doses to the lens of the eye, such as in law court claims of workers that were diagnosed with cataract.

Risk of lung cancer from radon exposure: contribution of recently published studies of uranium miners

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 368-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tirmarche ◽  
J. Harrison ◽  
D. Laurier ◽  
E. Blanchardon ◽  
F. Paquet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Absolute Risk ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Joint Analysis ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Risk Models ◽  
Radon Exposure ◽  
Asian Populations ◽  
Uranium Miners ◽  
Background Mortality

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recently estimated the risk of lung cancer associated with radon exposure, and a statement was issued in ICRP Publication 115. This was based on recent epidemiological studies and the results from a joint analysis of cohorts of Czech, French, and German uranium miners, and indicated that the excess relative risk of lung cancer per unit of exposure should be expressed with consideration of chronic exposure over more than 10 years, by modelling time since median exposure, age attained or age at exposure, and taking in account, if possible, interaction between radon and tobacco. The lifetime excess absolute risk (LEAR) calculated from occupational exposure studies is close to 5 × 10−4 per working level month (WLM) (14 × 10−5 per hm J/m3). LEAR values estimated using risk models derived from both miners and domestic exposure studies are in good agreement after accounting for factors such as sex, attained age, and exposure scenario. A sensitivity analysis highlighted the high dependence of background mortality rates on LEAR estimates. Using lung cancer rates among Euro-American males instead of the ICRP reference rates (males and females, and Euro-American and Asian populations), the estimated LEAR is close to 7 × 10−4 per WLM (20 × 10−5 per hm J/m3).

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