SYSTEM OF THE REGULATION IN RADIATION PROTECTION

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SYSTEM OF THE REGULATIONIN RADIATION PROTECTION

• UNECE Group of Experts Monitoring of
  Radiologically Contaminated Scrap Metal
• Vladimír Jurina
• Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic
• 5 7 April Geneva

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System of the Regulations in Radiation Protection
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Act No. 272/1994 on Protection of Human
Health amended by the Act No. 470/2000

• Basic provisions
• basic terms - including in Radiation Protection
  (RP),
• prevention of occurrences of diseases, measures
  for the
• prevention (including in RP),
• obligations in the field of health protection
  (general),
• radiation protection
• - basic principles,
• - medical exposure regulations,
• - natural radiation exposure regulations,
• - licensing of practices,
• - licensing of activities important for
  radiation
• protection (monitoring services, personal
  dosimetry
• service, ...)

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• - notification of practices or sources,
• - qualification requirements for licensee,
  qualified experts
• and workers,
• - authorities and their responsibilities
  (special in
• RP- licensing of practices),
• - radioactive waste (non NPPs waste) management
• requirements,
• - clearance of radioactive material, effluents,
• - interventions and radioactive residua
  management,
• - obligations of licence holder in RP,
• authorities (general in health protection),
• Public Health Authority ,
• civil service in health protection,
• monitoring of environment and judgement of its
  influence
• on the health,
• sanctions.

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Regulation of Ministry of Health No. 12/2001 on
the requirements for securing of the radiation
protection

• basic terms,
• requirements on the optimization of RP,
• exposure limits,
• guidance levels for the medical exposure,
• principles of the personal dose assessment,
• classification of the sources,
• principles of the natural radiation exposure
  limitation,
• requirements on the safety within practices,
• general,
• controlled area,
• qualification of workers,
• quality assurance,
• documentation,
• special requirements for practices,

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• radioactive waste treatment,
• release of the radioactive material from
  controlled area (effluents, clearance of solid
  material),
• requirements on
• monitoring of the personal doses,
• monitoring of the workplace and in environment,
• monitoring plan,
• examinations of the sources,
• documentation on sources,
• radiation protection in emergency and
  intervention.

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Handling of institutional radioactive wastes

• (1) Handling of institutional radioactive Act
  No. 130/1998 Coll.LL. on peaceful uses of nuclear
  energy (Act No. 130/1998), wastes shall mean
  collection, sorting, processing, preparation for
  storage, storage and transport of institutional
  radioactive wastes, except for transport from the
  site of processing to site of reposition for
  resposition.(2) Institutional radioactive wastes
  may only be handled for the purposes of
  increasing safety of their further handling and
  of enabling their safe reposition, recovering of
  usable materials and improving economy of their
  further handling by changing their weight, volume
  or form.(3) Upon handling of institutional
  radioactive wastes, also other hazardous
  properties of such wastes have to be accounted
  for, in particular their toxicity, flammability,
  explosivity, infectivity, spontaneous fission and
  residual heat that may influence their safe
  handling.

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(4) Separate regulations shall not apply to
handling of institutional radioactive wastes. (5)
Equipment have to be used for handling of
institutional radioactive wastes that will
a) provide for protection of persons against
radioactive contamination and external
irradiation, b) prevent unjustifiable
leakage of radioactive substances or secure their
collection, c) secure that quantities and
activity of radioactive substances introduced
into the environment be at levels as may be
reasonably achieved, d) allow their safe
maintenance and repairs and reliable
decontamination. (6) Equipment used for handling
of institutional radioactive wastes must allow
regular measurements of variables demonstrating
their operating ability. (7) Equipment used for
processing and preparation for storage of
institutional radioactive wastes containing
explosive or flammable substances must be able to
withstand potential effects of explosion or fire.
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(8) The responsibility for safe handling of
institutional radioactive wastes since the moment
of their production up to the takeover for
adjusting and reposition shall be with the
originator of the institutional radioactive
wastes. (9) The costs connected with handling of
institutional radioactive wastes shall be borne
by the originator of institutional radioactive
wastes, since the production of the wastes up to
their reposition, including reposition. (10)
Handling of institutional radioactive wastes
whose originator is unknown may be performed by
only natural persons or legal entities based on
authorisation issued by Public Health Authority.
Public Health Authority will appoint a legal
entity or a natural person holder of
authorisation for handling of institutional
radioactive wastes whose originator is unknown
in its ruling, the Ministry will identify the
scope of handling with such institutional
radioactive wastes and the method of its
financial coverage. (11) Holder of authorisation
according to the foregoing paragraph 10 shall
transport institutional radioactive wastes whose
originator is unknown to legal entity or natural
person determined according to separate
regulations (Act No. 130/1998). (12) The costs of
handling of institutional radioactive wastes
whose originator is unknown shall be covered by
State Fund of Decommissioning of Nuclear Power
Installations and Management of Spent Nuclear
Fuel and Radioactive Wastes. If the originator
of institutional radioactive wastes is
subsequently identified, he shall be liable to
reimburse the Fund for the costs incurred upon
handling of institutional radioactive wastes.
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Handling of institutional radioactive waste
including disused sealed sources
Institutional radioactive waste is accumulated at
the place of their origin, with consideration of
the methods used in their processing and
treatment. Radioactive waste must be safely
stored at the place of its origin until transport
to its processing place.   The owner of the
institutional radioactive waste is responsible
for all financial issues related to the disposal
of disused sources.   No sealed sources are
manufactured in the Slovak Republic, and no
manufacture is under preparation, either. All the
radioactive sources in use are imported and after
their utilisation they have to be sent back to
the supplier.
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Handling of institutional radioactive waste
including disused sealed sources
The requirement to return the disused source to
the supplier is stated in the license issued by
the Public Health Authority to the organisation
using sources of ionising radiation.   Sealed
spent radioactive sources which are not
transferred to the conditioning facility VYZ
Jasl. Bohunice) are stored at workstations in
such a way that the equivalent dose rate at the
outside walls of the storage place does not
exceed 1uSv.h-1.   Registration of disused sealed
sources is done by the Public Health Authority of
the Slovak Republic where the Central Register of
Ionising Radiation Sources in the Slovak Republic
is recently being build.
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Lost, found, orphan sources andtransportation

• Sealed orphan sources , in particular in scrap ,
  are discovered on average twice to three times
  per year in the Slovak Republic. They may
  originate from illicit trafficking or a loss of
  sources in use at certain industrial facilities
  facing a bankruptcy or winding-up.
• Orphan sources are reported to Public Health
  Authority and following their call an authorised
  organisation ensures their supervision, transport
  and safe storage. Financial costs of this
  activity are covered by the state nuclear
  decommissioning fund. Such orphan sources are
  currently temporarily stored within the
  Košice-based Huma-Lab Apekos hot chamber. The
  most serious was discovery of Co-60 therapeutic
  sealed source in scrap iron transported to US
  Steel, a.s., Košice.

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Lost, found, orphan sources andtransportation (
contd)

• There is currently none legislation in the Slovak
  Republic as would specially govern the management
  of orphan sealed sources . The general
  radiation protection principles as laid down by
  Act No 470/2000 Coll. and the Regulation of
  Ministry of Health No 12/2001 Coll. are
  followed
• In 2003 an agreement between Ministry of Health
  (Public Health Authority), Nuclear Regulatory
  Authority and Ministry of Transport was signed.
• As the number of events related to radiation
  sources has increased in last time according to
  this agreement all events will be reported to
  National INES Officer then classified and
  reported to the information system INES NEWS as
  appropriate.