IAEA plans with respect to environmental protection

EC PROTECT Workshop

Oslo, Norway, 28–30 January 2008

Background

• Increasing awareness of the vulnerability of the environment to human activities, and the need to be able to demonstrate the level of its protection against hazardous industrial pollutants.

• New and developing international policies, legal instruments and agreements, beginning with the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992).

Background

• The risk assessment and management of radionuclides entering the environment was generally based on human health considerations alone.

• This approach has demonstrated efficacy in also protecting non-human species in most of the cases related to the applications of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

Background

• Encouraged the development of an international framework for environmental radiation protection to control radioactive releases to the environment by explicitly taking into account the protection of species other than humans.

IAEA’s Plan of activities on the radiation protectionof the environment

• Based on the findings of the Stockholm International Conference (2003), Approved by the IAEA’s Board of Governors (Sep/2005).

• Aims: to encourage information exchange and promote the development of a coherent international policy.

• Organizations actively involved:• Participants: IAEA, UNSCEAR,ICRP, IUR, EC, NEA-OECD,

IAEA Member States (Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, UK, USA, Australia, Japan, Spain).

• Observers: Greenpeace, World Nuclear Association.

Plan of activities on the radiation protectionof the environment

• There is consensus on the need for establishing an iterative review process to determine the need for, and if necessary, the form and content of, additional or revised standards. In this process, account must be taken that:• Radiation is one of many environmental stressors, probably

relatively minor if compared to others.• There is a need to understand the implications of any proposed

improvement on the current system of regulation and to test the practical adequacy thereof.

• The process of reviewing Safety Standards does not necessarily mean major standard revisions.

• There are expectations in connection with the ICRP results regarding the definition of a system for protection of the environment.

Hierarchical Corpus of the IAEA International Safety Standards

Fundamentals

Requirements

Guides

• Principles

• Regulatory Imperatives

• Best practices

Safety IAEA International Standards

• A Statutory function of the IAEA.• 5 advisory bodies representing Member States and International

Organizations oversee the development of safety standards:• Commission on Safety Standards; (22 MS, 3 Int. Org. observers);• Nuclear Safety Standards Committee; (46 MS , 3 Int. Org. observers);• Radiation Safety Standards Committee; (53 MS, 10 Int. Org. observers);• Transport Safety Standards Committee; (45 MS, 8 Int. Org. observers); and• Waste Safety Standards Committee; (48 MS, 5 Int. Org. observers);• Draft Safety Standards are submitted to all Member States for comment before

approval.

• Fundamentals and Requirements, approved by the IAEA Board of Governors.

• Not legally binding for Member States (but may be adopted by them). • Binding for the IAEA in relation to its own operations and for States in

relation to operations assisted by the IAEA.

Safety IAEA International Standards

• TECDOCs, Technical Reports Series, Safety Reports Series, etc., supporting application of the IAEA’s safety standards:

The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the IAEA, the governments of the nominating Member States or the nominating organizations.

Scientific basis of the Safety Standards

ICRP

UNSCEAR

IAEA

Compendiumof Scientificknowledgeon effectsof radiation

Definition of a system for radiological protection

Harmonized international safety standards

Authoritative publications (new existing and expected)

• UNSCEAR “Effects of Ionizing radiation onNon-human Biota” (Draft Report under discussion, would be

expected in 2008)

• ICRP Publication 103: The 2007 Recommendations (for a System of Radiological Protection (Dec/2007)

• ICRP “Environmental Protection: the Concept and Use of Reference Animals and Plants” (Draft report for

consultation, since Jan/2008)

Where are new special regulations needed to control deleterious Effects on non-human biota?

• SevereAccidents

• Problematic existing situations

• Normal Operation

Yes

Possible, some - ??

Mainly, No -???

Doses rates

High

Intermediate

Low

Normal Background

10 Background

100 Background

1000 Background

<0.01 mGy/day

IAEA plans

• BSS (Requirement) revision: • Considering the need of a requirement to take into account the impact on

non-human biota for different possible purposes (not sure if for regulatory judgement in all the exposure situations), in line with all the considerations made by ICRP.

• Planned Safety Guides, SRS and TRS:• SG Radiological Environmental Impact Analysis (for planned exposures

situations) within the framework of EIA (including a proposal on how to consider non-human);

• Update of TRS-364, transfer parameters for human habitat (advanced);

• New TRS on environmental transfer parameters for non-human (starting);

• New SRS on methods of doses assessment for non-human biota (thinking).

IAEA plans

• Carry on with the Plan of activities on the radiation protection of the environment, to promote the development of a coherent international policy.

• 2009–2011 new project on environmental protection, modeling and applications, following EMRAS (to be defined in November 2008).

• Support interaction PROTECT-EMRAS BWG-ICRP.

• Review national and international experience.

• Review Stakeholders interests (Public-Industry-Regulators-ONG-etc.) relevant for reaching an agreeable regulatory framework.