IAEA Safety Standards for protecting people and the environment Environmental and Source Monitoring for Purposes of Radiation Protection Safety Guide No. RS-G-1.8 IAEA SAFETY RELATED PUBLICATIONS IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS Under the terms of Article III of its Statute, the IAEA is authorized to establish or adopt standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property, and to provide for the application of these standards. The publications by means of which the IAEA establishes standards are issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series. This series covers nuclear safety, radiation safety, transport safety and waste safety, and also general safety (i.e. all these areas of safety). The publication categories in the series are Safety Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides. Safety standards are coded according to their coverage: nuclear safety (NS), radiation safety (RS), transport safety (TS), waste safety (WS) and general safety (GS). Information on the IAEA’s safety standards programme is available at the IAEA Internet site http://www-ns.iaea.org/standards/ The site provides the texts in English of published and draft safety standards. The texts of safety standards issued in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish, the IAEA Safety Glossary and a status report for safety standards under development are also available. For further information, please contact the IAEA at P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. All users of IAEA safety standards are invited to inform the IAEA of experience in their use (e.g. as a basis for national regulations, for safety reviews and for training courses) for the purpose of ensuring that they continue to meet users’ needs. Information may be provided via the IAEA Internet site or by post, as above, or by e-mail to [email protected]. OTHER SAFETY RELATED PUBLICATIONS The IAEA provides for the application of the standards and, under the terms of Articles III and VIII.C of its Statute, makes available and fosters the exchange of information relating to peaceful nuclear activities and serves as an intermediary among its Member States for this purpose. Reports on safety and protection in nuclear activities are issued in other publications series, in particular the Safety Reports Series. Safety Reports provide practical examples and detailed methods that can be used in support of the safety standards. Other IAEA series of safety related publications are the Provision for the Application of Safety Standards Series, the Radiological Assessment Reports Series and the International Nuclear Safety Group’s INSAG Series. The IAEA also issues reports on radiological accidents and other special publications. Safety related publications are also issued in the Technical Reports Series, the IAEA-TECDOC Series, the Training Course Series and the IAEA Services Series, and as Practical Radiation Safety Manuals and Practical Radiation Technical Manuals. Security related publications are issued in the IAEA Nuclear Security Series. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOURCE MONITORING FOR PURPOSES OF RADIATION PROTECTION Safety standards survey The IAEA welcomes your response. Please see: http://www-ns.iaea.org/standards/feedback.htm The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GREECE PAKISTAN ALBANIA GUATEMALA PANAMA ALGERIA HAITI PARAGUAY ANGOLA HOLY SEE PERU ARGENTINA HONDURAS PHILIPPINES ARMENIA HUNGARY POLAND AUSTRALIA ICELAND PORTUGAL AUSTRIA INDIA QATAR AZERBAIJAN INDONESIA REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BANGLADESH IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF ROMANIA BELARUS IRAQ RUSSIAN FEDERATION BELGIUM IRELAND SAUDI ARABIA BENIN ISRAEL SENEGAL BOLIVIA ITALY SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JAMAICA SEYCHELLES BOTSWANA JAPAN SIERRA LEONE BRAZIL JORDAN SINGAPORE BULGARIA KAZAKHSTAN SLOVAKIA BURKINA FASO KENYA SLOVENIA CAMEROON KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA CANADA KUWAIT SPAIN CENTRAL AFRICAN KYRGYZSTAN SRI LANKA REPUBLIC LATVIA SUDAN CHILE LEBANON SWEDEN CHINA LIBERIA SWITZERLAND COLOMBIA LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COSTA RICA LIECHTENSTEIN TAJIKISTAN CÔTE D’IVOIRE LITHUANIA THAILAND CROATIA LUXEMBOURG THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CUBA MADAGASCAR REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CYPRUS MALAYSIA TUNISIA CZECH REPUBLIC MALI TURKEY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MALTA UGANDA OF THE CONGO MARSHALL ISLANDS UKRAINE DENMARK MAURITANIA UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UNITED KINGDOM OF ECUADOR MEXICO GREAT BRITAIN AND EGYPT MONACO NORTHERN IRELAND EL SALVADOR MONGOLIA UNITED REPUBLIC ERITREA MOROCCO OF TANZANIA ESTONIA MYANMAR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ETHIOPIA NAMIBIA URUGUAY FINLAND NETHERLANDS UZBEKISTAN FRANCE NEW ZEALAND VENEZUELA GABON NICARAGUA VIETNAM GEORGIA NIGER YEMEN GERMANY NIGERIA ZAMBIA GHANA NORWAY ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS SERIES No. RS-G-1.8 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOURCE MONITORING FOR PURPOSES OF RADIATION PROTECTION SAFETY GUIDE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2005 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and will be considered on a case by case basis. Enquiries should be addressed by email to the Publishing Section, IAEA, at [email protected] or by post to: Sales and Promotion Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramer Strasse 5 P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 http://www.iaea.org/books © IAEA, 2005 Printed by the IAEA in Austria July 2005 STI/PUB/1216 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Environmental and source monitoring for purposes of radiation protection : safety guide. — Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2005. p. ; 24 cm. — (IAEA Safety standards series, ISSN 1020–525X ; no. RS-G-1.8) STI/PUB/1216 ISBN 92–0–113404–5 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Radiation — Safety measures. 2. Environmental monitoring. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Safety standards series ; RS-G-1.8. IAEAL 05–00405 FOREWORD by Mohamed ElBaradei Director General The IAEA’s Statute authorizes the Agency to establish safety standards to protect health and minimize danger to life and property — standards which the IAEA must use in its own operations, and which a State can apply by means of its regulatory provisions for nuclear and radiation safety. A comprehensive body of safety standards under regular review, together with the IAEA’s assistance in their application, has become a key element in a global safety regime. In the mid-1990s, a major overhaul of the IAEA’s safety standards programme was initiated, with a revised oversight committee structure and a systematic approach to updating the entire corpus of standards. The new standards that have resulted are of a high calibre and reflect best practices in Member States. With the assistance of the Commission on Safety Standards, the IAEA is working to promote the global acceptance and use of its safety standards. Safety standards are only effective, however, if they are properly applied in practice. The IAEA’s safety services — which range in scope from engineering safety, operational safety, and radiation, transport and waste safety to regulatory matters and safety culture in organizations — assist Member States in applying the standards and appraise their effectiveness. These safety services enable valuable insights to be shared and I continue to urge all Member States to make use of them. Regulating nuclear and radiation safety is a national responsibility, and many Member States have decided to adopt the IAEA’s safety standards for use in their national regulations. For the Contracting Parties to the various international safety conventions, IAEA standards provide a consistent, reliable means of ensuring the effective fulfilment of obligations under the conventions. The standards are also applied by designers, manufacturers and operators around the world to enhance nuclear and radiation safety in power generation, medicine, industry, agriculture, research and education. The IAEA takes seriously the enduring challenge for users and regulators everywhere: that of ensuring a high level of safety in the use of nuclear materials and radiation sources around the world. Their continuing utilization for the benefit of humankind must be managed in a safe manner, and the IAEA safety standards are designed to facilitate the achievement of that goal. K N A L B IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS SAFETY THROUGH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS While safety is a national responsibility, international standards and approaches to safety promote consistency, help to provide assurance that nuclear and radiation related technologies are used safely, and facilitate international technical cooperation and trade. The standards also provide support for States in meeting their international obligations. One general international obligation is that a State must not pursue activities that cause damage in another State. More specific obligations on Contracting States are set out in international safety related conventions. The internationally agreed IAEA safety standards provide the basis for States to demonstrate that they are meeting these obligations. THE IAEA STANDARDS The IAEA safety standards have a status derived from the IAEA’s Statute, which authorizes the Agency to establish standards of safety for nuclear and radiation related facilities and activities and to provide for their application. The safety standards reflect an international consensus on what constitutes a high level of safety for protecting people and the environment. They are issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series, which has three categories: Safety Fundamentals —Presenting the objectives, concepts and principles of protection and safety and providing the basis for the safety requirements. Safety Requirements —Establishing the requirements that must be met to ensure the protection of people and the environment, both now and in the future. The requirements, which are expressed as ‘shall’ statements, are governed by the objectives, concepts and principles of the Safety Fundamentals. If they are not met, measures must be taken to reach or restore the required level of safety. The Safety Requirements use regulatory language to enable them to be incorporated into national laws and regulations. Safety Guides —Providing recommendations and guidance on how to comply with the Safety Requirements. Recommendations in the Safety Guides are expressed as ‘should’ statements. It is recommended to take the measures stated or equivalent alternative measures. The Safety Guides present international good practices and increasingly they reflect best practices to help users striving to achieve high levels of safety. Each Safety Requirements publication is supplemented by a number of Safety Guides, which can be used in developing national regulatory guides. The IAEA safety standards need to be complemented by industry standards and must be implemented within appropriate national regulatory infrastructures to be fully effective. The IAEA produces a wide range of technical publications to help States in developing these national standards and infrastructures. MAIN USERS OF THE STANDARDS As well as by regulatory bodies and governmental departments, authorities and agencies, the standards are used by authorities and operating organizations in the nuclear industry; by organizations that design, manufacture and apply nuclear and radiation related technologies, including operating organizations of facilities of various types; by users and others involved with radiation and radioactive material in medicine, industry, agriculture, research and education; and by engineers, scientists, technicians and other specialists. The standards are used by the IAEA itself in its safety reviews and for developing education and training courses. DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR THE STANDARDS The preparation and review of safety standards involves the IAEA Secretariat and four safety standards committees for safety in the areas of nuclear safety (NUSSC), radiation safety (RASSC), the safety of radioactive waste (WASSC) and the safe transport of radioactive material (TRANSSC), and a Commission on Safety Standards (CSS), which oversees the entire safety standards programme. All IAEA Member States may nominate experts for the safety standards committees and may provide comments on draft standards. The membership of the CSS is appointed by the Director General and includes senior government officials having responsibility for establishing national standards. For Safety Fundamentals and Safety Requirements, the drafts endorsed by the Commission are submitted to the IAEA Board of Governors for approval for publication. Safety Guides are published on the approval of the Director General. Through this process the standards come to represent a consensus view of the IAEA’s Member States. The findings of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) and the recommendations of international expert bodies, notably the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), are taken into account in developing the standards. Some standards are developed in cooperation with other bodies in the United Nations system or other specialized agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International