IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency

Protection Against Occupational Exposure

Radiation Protection Programme

Day 9 – Lecture 1

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Objective

• To describe the situation involving occupational exposure

• To identify the sources of routine and reasonably foreseeable potential exposures and to make a realistic estimate of the relevant doses and probabilities

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Content

• Safety Assessment• Scope and structure of radiation protection

programme• Assignment of responsibilities• Role of the Radiation Protection Officer• Quality assurance• Emergency preparedness

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Prior Radiological Evaluation

• Purpose is to describe the situation involving occupational exposure

• This is the first step in development of a Radiological Protection Program (RPP)

• The prior radiological evaluation should include:

• an identification of the sources of routine and reasonably foreseeable potential exposures

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Prior Radiological Evaluation

• a realistic estimate of the relevant doses and probabilities

• Prior evaluation will help to determine what can be achieved at the design stage to establish satisfactory working conditions through the use of engineered features

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Safety Assessment

• Where authorization by registration or licensing is required, the legal person applying for the authorization is required to make a safety assessment

• The safety assessment shall include, as appropriate, a systematic critical review of:

• the nature and magnitude of potential exposures and the likelihood of their occurrence

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Safety Assessment

• the limits and technical conditions for operation of the source

• the ways in which structures, systems, components and procedures related to radiation protection or safety might fail, singly or in combination, or otherwise lead to potential exposures, and the consequences of such failures

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Safety Assessment

• the ways in which changes in the environment could affect protection or safety

• the ways in which operating procedures related to protection or safety might be erroneous, and the consequences of such errors; and

• the protection and safety implications of any proposed modifications

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Safety Assessment

• The registrant or licensee shall take into account in the safety assessment:

• factors which could precipitate a substantial release of any radioactive substance and the measures available to prevent or control such a release, and the maximum activity of any radioactive substance which, in the event of a major failure of the containment, might be released to the atmosphere

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Safety Assessment

• The registrant or licensee shall take into account in the safety assessment:

• factors which could precipitate a smaller but continuing release of any radioactive substance and the measures available to prevent or control such a release

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Safety Assessment

• The registrant or licensee shall take into account in the safety assessment:

• factors which could give rise to the unintended operation of any radiation beam and the measures available to prevent, identify and control such occurrences

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Safety Assessment

• The registrant or licensee shall take into account in the safety assessment:

• the extent to which redundant and diverse safety features, being independent of each other so that failure of one does not result in failure of any other, are appropriate in order to restrict the probability and magnitude of potential exposures

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Safety Assessment

• The safety assessment shall be documented and, if appropriate, independently reviewed within the relevant quality assurance program.

• Additional reviews shall be performed as necessary for ensuring that the technical specifications or conditions of use continue to be met

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Scope and Structure of the RPP

• The RPP covers the main elements contributing to protection and safety

• The RPP is a key factor for the development of a safety culture

• Development of a safety culture depends on management commitment

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• Whatever the situation, the basic structure of the RPP should document, with an appropriate level of detail:

• the assignment of responsibilities for occupational radiation protection and safety to different management levels

• the designation of controlled or supervised areas

Scope and Structure of the RPP

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• Whatever the situation, the basic structure of the RPP should document, with an appropriate level of detail:

• the local rules for workers to follow and the supervision of work

• the arrangements for monitoring workers and the workplace, including the acquisition and maintenance of radiation protection instruments

Scope and Structure of the RPP

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• Whatever the situation, the basic structure of the RPP should document, with an appropriate level of detail:

• the system for recording and reporting all the relevant information related to the control of exposures, the decisions regarding measures for occupational radiation protection and safety, and the monitoring of individuals

Scope and Structure of the RPP

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Assignment of Responsibilities

• Licensees and registrants may appoint other people to carry out actions and tasks related to their radiation protection responsibilities, but they retain the responsibility for the actions and tasks themselves

• Registrants and licensees shall specifically identify the individuals responsible for ensuring compliance with the Standards

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Assignment of Responsibilities

• Radiation Protection Officers should be appointed to oversee the application of regulatory requirements

• Organizational structures should reflect the assignment of responsibilities, and the commitment of the organization to protection and safety

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Role of the Radiation Protection Officer

• The Radiation Protection Officer (RPO) (also called health physics managers or health physics officers) should take part in the planning of activities involving significant exposures, and should advise on the conditions under which work can be undertaken in controlled areas.

• The RPO should review and approve Radiation Work Permits (RWP’s)

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• RPO’s should perform regular assessments (for example on an annual basis) of the global exposure situation of the facility, in order to:

• Evaluate the generic tendencies;• Check any possible deviations;• Monitor the effectiveness of the radiation protection

program, including the ALARA plan;• Identify the main areas for improvement;• Determine future goals for doses.

Role of the Radiation Protection Officer

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Assignment of Responsibilities

• Depending on the size of the organization, management should consider creating a specific committee with representatives of the departments concerned with occupational exposure

• This committee would review planning of jobs with significant exposure potential to ensure proper controls and that ALARA considerations have been factored into the job plan

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Role of the Qualified Expert

• Qualified experts shall be identified and made available for providing advice on the observance of the Standards.

• In particular, qualified experts in radiation protection should be identified and made available to provide advice on a range of issues, including optimization of protection and safety.

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Role of the Qualified Expert

• Registrants and licensees shall inform the Regulatory Authority of their arrangements to make available the expertise necessary to provide advice on the observance of the Standards. The information provided shall include the scope of the functions of any qualified experts identified.

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Safety Culture

• A safety culture shall be fostered and maintained to encourage a questioning and learning attitude to protection and safety and to discourage complacency, which shall ensure that:

• policies and procedures be established that identify protection and safety as being of the highest priority;

• problems affecting protection and safety be promptly identified and corrected in a manner commensurate with their importance;

• the responsibilities of each individual, including those at senior management levels, for protection and safety be clearly identified and each individual be suitably trained and qualified;

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Safety Culture

• A safety culture shall be fostered and maintained to encourage a questioning and learning attitude to protection and safety and to discourage complacency, which shall ensure that:

• clear lines of authority for decisions on protection and safety be defined; and

• organizational arrangements and lines of communications be effected that result in an appropriate flow of information on protection and safety at and between the various levels in the organization of the registrant or licensee.

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Quality Assurance

• Quality assurance programs shall be established that provide, as appropriate:

• adequate assurance that the specified requirements relating to protection and safety are satisfied; and

• quality control mechanisms and procedures for reviewing and assessing the overall effectiveness of protection and safety measures.

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Emergency Preparedness

• Emergency exposure situations may arise as a consequence of an accident

• The basic obligations are to undertake protective actions whenever they are justified, and to optimize those actions so as to produce the maximum net benefit.

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Emergency Preparedness

• Each registrant or licensee responsible for sources for which prompt intervention may be required shall ensure that an emergency plan exists that defines on-site responsibilities and takes account of off-site responsibilities appropriate for the source and provides for implementation of each form of protective action

• The decision whether or not emergency plans are needed should result from the prior radiological evaluation

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Emergency Preparedness

• Emergency and contingency plans should include a system for categorizing workers involved in the immediate aftermath of the accident — for example a list of persons involved and their locations — and a system to give a rapid initial assessment of dose

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Emergency Preparedness

• In the case of large sources, and nuclear power facilities in particular, workers may need to be involved in actions to protect the public

• Emergency plans prepared in advance should include definition of the roles and responsibilities of all workers concerned in the emergency response.