EU proposes a new radiation protection directive

The European Commission has proposed a new EU directive on comprehensive radiation protection that considers workers in various industries who are exposed to natural and artificial radiation sources.

Brussels has taken action in accordance with the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) 2007 Recommendation. At the same time, the expertise of the proposal is the benchmark of the European Atomic Energy Community legislation. This latest guide has a detailed description of exposure to any source of radiation, either "artificial radiation or natural radiation."

To date, these concerns have been resolved through independent and relatively loose EU legislation. The committee stated that this approach will give member states “maximum flexibility” to determine which industries should establish natural radiation regulations. However, this also “leads to significant differences in industrial control and worker protection... This situation is inconsistent with the role played by the European Atomic Energy Community in setting uniform standards,” wrote a committee memorandum.

The memorandum also states: “A large proportion of workers in various industries are exposed to natural radiation (NORM) radiation doses that exceed the radiation exposure dose limits of the public, but they do not benefit as much as those who are employed. There is some protection. This abnormal situation cannot be sustained.” The memo further emphasizes that “indoor (ground) radon radiation... is far more dangerous than any other radiation source. Recent epidemiological studies have confirmed Exposure to radon radiation can cause lung cancer."

If the EU Council of Ministers adopts the proposal in the future, a new directive will “provide basic safety standards for ionizing radiation protection”, thus clearly defining which industries need to provide protection for their naturally exposed persons.

The industry covers the civil aviation industry; any industry that is exposed to the helium radiation operating environment; and the industry that contains natural radionuclide materials. The protection control measures listed in the directive will require employers to provide protection to workers whose effective radiation dose is confirmed to exceed 6 millisieverts per year and monitor their effective dose.

Industries involved in NORM processing include: mining of ores (controlled uranium mining); mining of rare earth, antimony, bismuth/antimony ores; production of oil and natural gas; production of titanium dioxide pigments; thermal phosphorus; zircon and zirconium; phosphate fertilizers; Cement; geothermal energy production; coal-fired power plants; phosphoric acid production; steelmaking; tin/lead/copper smelting; and groundwater filtration facilities.

Another aspect of this new directive proposal on expanding the scope of protection includes the control of the recycling of residues that enter the building materials through natural circulation radiation in related industries, and other building materials that have increased the level of radioactivity will also be given “coherence and uniformity”. Protection." This content will forbid the deliberate dilution of radioactive residues, but will not interfere with the materials necessary for the normal mixing of standardized industrial processes.

At the same time, the committee officials also requested that the EU's radiation protection regulations be simplified through review, and some independent but related legal provisions should be integrated into the protection directive. These legal provisions include the Atomic Energy Community Medical Directive, the HASS (High Active Sealed Radioactive Source and Non-primary Radioactive Source) Directive, Outdoor Worker Directives, and Public Information Directives.

This directive does not apply to radionuclides contained in the human body; surface cosmic radiation; and contact with surface radionuclides in stable crust.