scholarly journals Trend of strengthening clearance regulation in Japan and concerns about its worldwide effects on regulations for natural and artificial radionuclides

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 98-112
Author(s):  
T. Hattori
Keyword(s):  
Probabilistic Approach ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Atomic Energy ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
International Level ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
The Public ◽  
Safety Report ◽  
Natural And Artificial Radionuclides ◽  
Measurement And Evaluation

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan invited comments from the public on a revised guide on measurement and evaluation for clearance in 2019, which included a strict decision on how to treat uncertainties in the measurement and the nuclide vector. To resolve the issue on the uncertainty in clearance, a probabilistic approach had been established previously in the Atomic Energy Society of Japan Standard and incorporated into International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Report No. 67. NRA’s new decision on the uncertainty in clearance was up to 10 times stricter than the probabilistic approach. This issue has been discussed at an international level in the framework of the ongoing revision of IAEA Safety Guide RS-G-1.7. This discussion on the uncertainty in clearance has raised serious concerns about its effects on other radiological protection regulations worldwide. This is because if we need strict treatment for the uncertainty in clearance, the same or even stricter treatment for conformity assessment may have to be applied to other radiological protection criteria for doses exceeding 10 µSv year−1. Radiological protection experts including regulators, professionals, and operators should be aware of the essential meaning of the radiological protection criteria by considering the background scientific basis on which they were established.

Measuring judicial independence in international law

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-551
Author(s):  
Georgios Dimitropoulos
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Judicial Independence ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
International Level ◽  
Psychological Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
International Adjudication ◽  
Measurement And Evaluation ◽  
The Individual

This article searches for paths, frameworks and modules for the measurement and evaluation of judicial independence in international law. First, it discusses the measurability of the concept. Judicial independence, both as such and especially at the international level, is very difficult to measure, given the ambivalence of some proxies and variables that have been used in empirical research in order to measure it, and given the competing interests and actors in international adjudication: independence does not stand alone as the only value that needs to be protected in international adjudication. Second, the article presents methodologies for the evaluation of international judicial independence. The three competing methodologies are (i) the subjective, which looks at the subjective perception of the judges themselves or the public; (ii) the output-based, which looks at the decisions of the courts and tribunals; and (iii) the institutional, which looks at the personal independence guarantees of the judge, and the organizational safeguards of independence. Finally, this article presents its preferred model for the measurement of international judicial independence. The study takes an institutional-psychological approach that focuses on the judge and the individual institutions.

Lower Bound of Optimization in Radiological Protection System Taking Account of Practical Implementation of Clearance

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takatoshi Hattori
Keyword(s):  
Probabilistic Approach ◽  
Fundamental Concept ◽  
Dose Assessment ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
Dose Constraint ◽  
Clearance Level

The dose criterion used to derive clearance and exemption levels is of the order of 0.01 mSv/y based on the Basic Safety Standard (BSS) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the use of which has been agreed upon by many countries. It is important for human beings, who are facing the fact that global resources for risk reduction are limited, to carefully consider the practical implementation of radiological protection systems, particularly for low-radiation-dose regions. For example, in direct gamma ray monitoring, to achieve clearance level compliance, difficult issues on how the uncertainty (error) of gamma measurement should be handled and also how the uncertainty (scattering) of the estimation of non-gamma emitters should be treated in clearance must be resolved. To resolve these issues, a new probabilistic approach has been proposed to establish an appropriate safety factor for compliance with the clearance level in Japan. This approach is based on the fundamental concept that 0.1 mSv/y should be complied with the 97.5th percentile of the probability distribution for the uncertainties of both the measurement and estimation of non-gamma emitters. The International Commission on Radiological Protection, ICRP published a new concept of the representative person in Publication 101 Part I. The representative person is a hypothetical person exposed to a dose that is representative of those of highly exposed persons in a population. In a probabilistic dose assessment, the ICRP recommends that the representative person should be defined such that the probability of exposure occurrence is lower than about 5% that of a person randomly selected from the population receiving a high dose. From the new concept of the ICRP, it is reasonable to consider that the 95th percentile of the dose distribution for the representative person is theoretically always lower than the dose constraint. Using this established relationship, it can be concluded that the minimum dose constraint that requires optimization in radiological protection should be set to the dose criterion of 0.1 mSv/y, considering the fundamental concept used in the clearance criterion for resolving the issues on uncertainty in clearance.

scholarly journals Internal exposure in nuclear medicine: application of IAEA criteria to determine the need for internal monitoring

2008 ◽  
Vol 51 (spe) ◽  
pp. 103-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Maranhão Dantas ◽  
Eder Augusto de Lucena ◽  
Ana Letícia Almeida Dantas
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Medicine ◽  
International Atomic Energy Agency ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Atomic Energy ◽  
Internal Exposure ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
Radiological Safety ◽  
Effective Doses ◽  
Medicine Application

The manipulation of unsealed sources in nuclear medicine poses significant risks of internal exposure to the staff. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the radiological protection program should include an evaluation of such risks and an individual monitoring plan, assuring acceptable radiological safety conditions in the workplace. The IAEA Safety Guide RS-G-1.2 recommends that occupational monitoring should be implemented whenever it is likely that committed effective doses from annual intakes of radionuclides would exceed 1 mSv. It also suggests a mathematical criterion to determine the need to implement internal monitoring. This paper presents a simulation of the IAEA criteria applied to commonly used radionuclides in nuclear medicine, taking into consideration usual manipulated activities and handling conditions. It is concluded that the manipulation of 131I for therapy presents the higher risk of internal exposure to the workers, requiring the implementation of an internal monitoring program by the Nuclear Medicine Centers.

Release From Regulatory Control

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Natural Radionuclides ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Potential Hazard ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nuclear Site ◽  
Dose Limits ◽  
Regulatory Controls

Release of materials from regulatory control is an important process; it reduces the amounts of radioactive waste requiring disposal and serves to conserve resources. This paper discusses the radiological protection principles and criteria that apply to the release of materials and land from regulatory control. Comparisons are drawn between materials containing artificial radionuclides and those containing natural radionuclides. Materials within regulated practices are subject to controls. Stringent requirements are placed on the disposal of radioactive wastes in order to protect man and the environment from the effects of ionising radiation. These requirements are generally linked to the hazard posed by the waste and may include disposal at defined locations, environmental monitoring around the point of disposal and assessment of the doses or risks to exposed individuals for comparison with protection criteria (eg, dose limits and constraints). Logically, there should come a point where the radiological hazard posed by the material is such that regulatory controls can be removed and the materials can be released into the general environment without further consideration. Release of materials from regulatory controls has a number of advantages. For example, it allows regulatory effort to be focussed on areas of significant potential hazard and would help to avoid expensive disposal space being needlessly occupied by materials of very low activity content. Recycling of economically valuable materials would also contribute to sustainable development. Nevertheless, it is important to avoid the connotation that radioactive waste is being dumped on the public; the process for release from regulatory controls should be transparent and soundly based on radiological protection considerations. This paper considers both the release of materials from regulatory controls from licensed nuclear sites and the release of land previously occupied by a licensed nuclear site. Comparisons are made with land and materials contaminated with natural radionuclides. It owes much to discussions with staff at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and draws heavily on the conclusions of the International Conference on ‘Safe Decommissioning for Nuclear Activities’ held in Berlin in 2002. The opinions, however, are those of the author.

The Standard for Radiation Protection of the IAEC as a Model for a Revision of the Legal Framework for Radiation Safety in Israel

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Koch
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Protection ◽  
Radiation Safety ◽  
Atomic Energy Commission ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Atomic Energy ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Comprehensive Framework

In Israel, a single regulatory body for radiation protection does not exist. Instead, its responsibilities and functions are shared between five government ministries and agencies. Accordingly, the existing legal framework for radiation safety is of a very heterogeneous nature. It is made of laws, acts, orders, and regulations enacted during different periods, according to different principles. Moreover, some of the provisions of those legal instruments are obsolete or quote obsolete documents. The Standard for Radiation Protection (SRP) of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) was recently updated on the basis of the latest version of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Basic Safety Standards (BSS). It is proposed that the SRP of the IAEC serves as a model for a comprehensive framework law that would be structured in a similar manner, i.e., a division into three parts according to the three different types of exposure situation (planned, emergency, existing) defined by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and a subdivision of each part according to relevant exposure categories (occupational, public, medical). The adoption of such a structure would ensure that no aspect of radiation protection is left untreated.

scholarly journals DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND VERIFICATION OF SOFTWARE CODE FOR RADIATION DOSE ASSESSMENT BASED ON SIMPLE GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL MODEL

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
I Putu Susila ◽  
Arif Yuniarto
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Dose ◽  
Open Source ◽  
International Atomic Energy Agency ◽  
Atomic Energy ◽  
Dose Assessment ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
Safety Report ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Radiation Dose Assessment ◽  
Software Code

Radiation dose assessment to determine the potential of radiological impacts of various installations within nuclear facility complex is necessary to ensure evironmental and public safety. A simple generic model-based method for calculating radiation doses caused by the release of radioactive substances into the environment has been published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as the Safety Report Series No. 19 (SRS-19). In order to assist the application of the assessment method and a basis for the development of more complex assessment methods, an open-source based software code has been designed and implemented. The software comes with maps and is very easy to be used because assessment scenarios can be done through diagrams. Software verification was performed by comparing its result to SRS-19 and CROM software calculation results. Dose estimated by SRS-19 are higher compared to the result of developed software. However, these are still acceptable since dose estimation in SRS-19 is based on conservative approach. On the other hand, compared to CROM software, the same results for three scenarios and a non-significant difference of 2.25% in another scenario were obtained. These results indicate the correctness of our implementation and implies that the developed software is ready for use in real scenario. In the future, the addition of various features and development of new model need to be done to improve the capability of software that has been developed.Keywords: Radiation dose assessment, software code, radioactive discharge, environment, IAEA SRS-19. PERANCANGAN, IMPLEMENTASI DAN VERIFIKASI PERANGKAT LUNAK UNTUK KAJIAN DOSIS RADIASI BERBASIS MODEL LINGKUNGAN GENERIK SEDERHANA. Kajian dosis radiasi untuk mengetahui potensi dampak radiologi akibat pengoperasian berbagai instalasi yang ada di dalam kawasan instalasi nuklir sangat diperlukan untuk menjamin keselamatan masyarakat dan lingkungan. Metode sederhana berbasis model lingkungan generik untuk menghitung dosis radiasi yang disebabkan oleh pelepasan zat radioaktif ke lingkungan telah diterbitkan oleh International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sebagai Safety Report Series No. 19 (SRS-19). Untuk lebih memudahkan penerapan metode tersebut, maupun sebagai dasar kajian serta pengembangan metode yang lebih kompleks, maka dilakukan perancangan dan implementasi perangkat lunak terkait berbasis open-source. Perangkat lunak yang dibuat telah dilengkapi dengan peta serta sangat mudah digunakan karena skenario kajian dosis radiasi dapat dibuat melalui diagram. Verifikasi melalui komparasi dengan nilai hasil perhitungan di SRS-19 serta hasil perhitungan perangkat lunak CROM. Hasil komparasi dengan SRS-19 menunjukkan adanya perbedaan pada empat skenario yang diuji. Hal ini wajar karena pada SRS-19 perhitungan dilakukan dengan pendekatan konservatif sehingga nilai dosis yang dihasilkan lebih besar jika dibandingkan dengan perangkat lunak yang dikembangkan. Selanjutnya, pada komparasi dengan perangkat lunak CROM, keduanya menunjukkan hasil yang sama pada tiga skenario serta perbedaan yang tidak siginifikan yaitu sebesar 2,25% pada satu skenario. Hasil tersebut menunjukkan bahwa implementasi perangkat lunak telah berhasil dan perangkat lunak tersebut dapat digunakan untuk kajian yang nyata. Kedepannya, penambahan berbagai fitur serta pengembangan model kajian perlu dilakukan untuk meningkatkan kemampuan perangkat lunak yang telah dibuat. Kata kunci: Kajian dosis radiasi, perangkat lunak, lepasan zat radioaktif, lingkungan, IAEA SRS-19

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