JV10: Rules on radioactivity monitoringUnofficial translation

RULES ON RADIOACTIVITY MONITORING

(JV10)

UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION

of the original published in Slovene languauge in the
Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 20/2007 and 97/2009

Prepared in April 2011

1

JV10: Rules on radioactivity monitoringUnofficial translation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 (content)

Article 2 (those bound to ensure monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 3 (definitions)

II.PROGRAMME BASIS OF RADIOACTIVITY MONITORING

Article 4 (programme basis of radioactivity monitoring)

Article 5 (types of measurement)

Article 6 (methods of sampling and measuring radioactivity)

Article 7 (measuring external radiation)

Article 8 (measuring radioactive contamination of air, water and soil)

Article 9 (measuring radioactive contamination of foodstuffs, agricultural products, food and feed)

Article 10 (quality assurance in evaluating measurement results and in dose estimate)

III.THE CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE SATISFIED BY THOSE PERFORMING RADIOACTIVITY MONITORING

Article 11 (licence to perform radioactivity monitoring)

Article 12 (conditions for obtaining a licence)

Article 13 (conditions for obtaining a licence for providers of measurements of radioactivity of secondary metal raw material shipments)

Article 14 (application for a licence)

Article 15 (issuing and withdrawal of a licence)

Article 16 (list of licenced providers)

Article 17 (other obligations of radioactivity monitoring providers)

IV.RADIOACTIVITY MONITORING IN THE ENVIRONMENT

Article 18 (purpose and content of radioactivity monitoring in the environment)

Article 19 (manner and scope of radioactivity monitoring in the environment)

Article 20 (preparation and adoption of annual programme)

Article 21 (reporting on implementation of the annual programme)

Article 22 (criteria for emergency notification)

Article 23 (method of storing records)

V.OPERATIONAL MONITORING

Article 24 (manner and scope of operational monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 25 (manner of performing operational monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 26 (pre-operational and post-operational monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 27 (programme of operational monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 28 (exposure pathways)

Article 29 (reference population group)

Article 30 (population age groups)

Article 31 (exposure estimate)

Article 32 (nuclear power plant)

Article 33 (research reactor)

Article 34 (uranium mines and pertaining facilities and mining and hydrometallurgical spoil dumps)

Article 35 (storage and repository for low and intermediate level radioactive waste)

Article 36 (other facilities)

Article 37 (regular and special reporting on operational monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 38 (independent control of operational monitoring of radioactivity)

VI.EMERGENCY MONITORING OF RADIOACTIVITY

Article 39 (purpose of emergency monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 40 (activities of competent authorities in emergency monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 41 (scope of emergency monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 42 (programme of emergency monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 43 (additional conditions for providers of radioactivity monitoring during emergencies)

Article 44 (measuring equipment for emergency monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 45 (maintaining readiness for emergency monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 46 (reporting on emergency monitoring of radioactivity)

Article 47 (informing the public of emergency monitoring of radioactivity)

VII.RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION CERTIFICATE

Article 48 (content and conditions for obtaining document on level of contamination)

Article 49 (issuing a certificate on the level of contamination)

VIII.TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 50 (the validity of existing licences)

Article 51 (application of programmes of radioactivity monitoring)

Article 52 (repeals of legal provisions)

Article 53 (entry into force)

Annex 1 Minimum technical requirements for measuring and analysis equipment

Annex 2 Basis of annual programme of radioactivity monitoring in the environment of the Republic of Slovenia

Annex 3 Manner and pathways of exposure

Table 1: Guidelines for assessing the manner and pathways of exposure that always need to be taken into account in operational monitoring of the radioactivity of a nuclear power plant

Table 2: Guidelines for assessing the manner and pathways of exposure in cases thus indicated by local conditions or features

Annex 4 Programme basis of operational monitoring of radioactivity of a nuclear power plant

Table 1: Liquid discharges (emissions)

Table 2: Atmospheric emissions

Table 3: Measurements in the environment of a nuclear power plant (imission)

Annex 5 Programme basis of operational monitoring of radioactivity of a research reactor

Table 1: Emission monitoring

Table 2: Measurements in the environment (Imission)

Annex 6 Programme basis of operational monitoring of radioactivity of a uranium mine and pertaining facilities

Table 1: Manner of exposure, pathways and radionuclides to be observed in operational monitoring of radioactivity of a uranium mine and pertaining facilities

Table 2: Programme basis of operational monitoring of radioactivity of a uranium mine and pertaining facilities

Annex 7 Programme basis of operational monitoring of radioactivity of storage and repository for low and intermediate level radioactive waste

Annex 8 Programme basis of emergency monitoring of radioactivity

Table 1: General guidelines for formulating programme of emergency monitoring of radioactivity of the environment and persons

Table 2: Programme basis of emergency monitoring of radioactivity of the environment and persons in discharge of radioactive substances into the environment

Table 3: General instructions for formulating programme to ensure readiness

Pursuant to the Ionising Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 102/04 – official consolidated text) Article 123, paragraph 5, Article 124, paragraph 4 and Article 90, paragraphs 1 and 2 and pursuant to the Public Administration Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 113/05 – official consolidated text) Article 74, paragraph 1, the minister of the environment and spatial planning, minister of health and minister of agriculture, forestry and food hereby issue the

RULES

on radioactivity monitoring

  1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1 (content)

(1)In accordance with Council Directive 96/29/EURATOM of 13 May 1996, laying down basic safety standards for the protection of health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation (OJ L No. 159 of 29 June 1996, p. 1), Commission Recommendation 2000/473/EURATOM of 8 June 2000 on the application of Article 36 of the Euratom Treaty concerning the monitoring of the levels of radioactivity in the environment for the purpose of assessing the exposure of the population as a whole (OJ L No. 191 of 27 July 2000, p. 37) andCommission Recommendation 2004/2/EURATOM of 18 December 2003 on standardised information on radioactive airborne and liquid discharges into the environment from nuclear power reactors and reprocessing plants in normal operation (OJ L No. 2 of 6 January 2004, p. 36), these Rules lay down the programme basis for radioactivity monitoring, the method and scope of radioactivity monitoring in the environment and operational monitoring of radioactivity, the types of measurements and methods of sampling and measuring radioactivity, the quality of measuring equipment, the method of regular public notification of the results of measuring radioactivity and the scope and method of preparing and adopting programmes for performing radioactivity monitoring.

(2)These Rules also lay down the conditions that must be satisfied by those performing radioactivity monitoring and the necessary accreditation.

(3)These Rules also lay down the programme basis for emergency monitoring of radioactivity in the event of increased radioactive contamination of the air, drinking water, water, soil, foodstuffs, feed and specific products or materials, and the manner of reporting and notifying the public of the results of emergency monitoring of radioactivity, and the content and conditions for obtaining certificates whereby the holders of foodstuffs, feed, products or waste demonstrate that such items are not contaminated by radioactivity.

Article 2 (those bound to ensure monitoring of radioactivity)

(1)Those bound to ensure monitoring of radioactivity in the environment are the competent authorities attached to the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food.

(2)Those bound to ensure operational monitoring of radioactivity are operatorsof radiation andnuclear facilities or operatorsof radiation practices who hold licences to dischargeradioactive substances into the environment.

(3)Those bound under the previous two paragraphs shall also be bound to ensure emergency monitoring of radioactivity.

Article 3 (definitions)

The terms appearing in these Rules shall have the following meanings:

  1. authorised limit is the limit value of the effective dose for individuals or a reference group of the population or the limit value for discharge activity accepted by the competent authority as optimal for the individual facility or individual radiation practice;
  2. bioindicators are plant and animal organisms which in a given environment concentrate certain types of chemical elements or compounds and react to changes in concentrations thereof in the environment;
  3. emission is the discharge of radioactive substances in a certain period. Data on emissions determined at the point of discharge include data on individual activities expressed in becquerels (hereinafter: Bq), of all significant radionuclides contained in the discharges during this period;
  4. ingestion is the consumption of food and drink;
  5. inhalation is the breathing in of air and other substances;
  6. key radionuclides are radionuclides that contribute the greatest dose to humans;
  7. concentration of activity in the environment (immission) is the individual specific activities, expressed in Bq/kg, Bq/m3 etc., at measuring points of all key radionuclides caused by an emission;
  8. measuring method is the logical sequence of generically described operations used in taking measurements;
  9. radioactivity monitoring in the environment is the performance of sampling, measurement of contamination and external radiation in the environment, evaluation of the measurement results and an assessment of doses;
  10. operational monitoring of radioactivity is radioactivity monitoring in the environment generated by emissionsof radioactive substances;
  11. emergency monitoring of radioactivity is radioactivity monitoring in the environment generated by the release of radioactive substances in emergencies;
  12. early notification network is a system of gauges for external radiation or concentration of radionuclides in the air or in aggregate deposition;
  13. type A uncertainty: uncertainty evaluated by statistical methods;
  14. type B uncertainty: uncertainty evaluated by other methods, such as on the basis of available data on possible changes in quantity;
  15. supervisory measurements are independent measurements taken in parallel to the programme of regular operational monitoring of radioactivity and carried out independently of measurements provided by those bound to ensure monitoring of radioactivity;
  16. the sensitivity of a proportional counter and a liquid scintillation counter for a given radioisotope is the square of the probability of decay detection, expressed in percentages, divided by the counting rate in the absence of such isotope, expressed in impulses per minute;
  17. scope of radioactivity monitoring is the extent of performing radioactivity monitoring that includes types of samples from the environment, locations of sampling, types of measurement, radionuclides investigated and the frequency of measuring;
  18. evaluation of results is the assessment of quality, completeness and reliability of measurement results and their interpretation or comparison with related results, for the purpose of determining trends, and an assessment of their importance for the purpose for which they were obtained;
  19. preconcentration of a sample is a laboratory method whereby prior to measuring activity, the volume of the sample is reduced through appropriate methods such as evaporation or electrolytic enrichment;
  20. food chain is an ecological system within which there is a flow of substances used by humans for food;
  21. comparative measurement is the measurement of identical material carried out in two or more laboratories to establish the matching of results and thereby the accuracy and precision of measurements by individual laboratories;
  22. the competent authority in cases of radioactivity monitoring in the environment to measure the radioactivity of the air, water, soil and individual products is the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (hereinafter referred to as: SNSA), for measuring the radioactivity of foodstuffs and drinking water it is the Slovenian Radiation Protection Administration (hereinafter referred to as: SRPA) and for measuring the radioactivity of feed the competent authority is the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food. In all cases of operational monitoring of radioactivity the competent authority is the SNSA, except in cases of persons performing radiation practices that may release radioactive substances into the environment in the field of medicine and veterinary medicine, for which the competent authority is the SRPA;
  23. radioactive deposition is radioactive particles subject to depositing or washout from the atmosphere onto surfaces;
  24. traceability is the link between measurement results and references, usually with national or international standards through an uninterrupted chain of comparisons that have a defined uncertainty;
  25. specific methods are measurement methods for determining the activity of individual radionuclides and their concentrations, and these differ from non-specific measurement methods on the basis of which only total activity is determined;
  26. technologically enhanced natural radioactivity is activity that is enhanced due to technological processes or other anthropogenic activity. A characteristic of such substances is that the concentrations of natural radionuclides within them are higher than in the natural background;
  27. a sample is a representative part of the air, water, soil or other material that is taken for analysis at a measuring point in a given period and in a manner laid down by these Rules; samples may be grab, collected and composite. Grab sample is a one-off sample of a radioactive material or substance. Collected sample is a sample taken in a known time interval. Composite sample is a mixture of partial samples taken in a known time interval.
  1. PROGRAMME BASIS OF RADIOACTIVITY MONITORING
Article 4 (programme basis of radioactivity monitoring)

(1)Radioactivity monitoring must be performed in such a way as to take account of all the significant pathways of the population’s exposure to ionising radiation resulting from external radiation, inhalation and ingestion.

(2)Radioactivity monitoring must be used to survey all the significant pathways for the spread of radioactivity to humans.

(3)Radioactivity monitoring must be used to determine the radionuclides that contribute significantly to the dose, and to ensure the measuring of their concentrations.

(4)Measurements taken as part of radioactivity monitoring must serve to detect levels of radioactive contamination that are measurable using standard measuring methods. Radioactivity measuring must be performed in such a manner as to enable monitoring of the changes in time of radioactive contamination of the environment and external radiation.

(5)Radioactivity monitoring must also involve measuring or collecting other data necessary for interpreting the results of radioactivity measurements and for an estimate of doses, such as data on the amount of precipitation, river discharges the quantity of water pumped from stations for the supply of human drinking water and other meteorological data.

(6)The results of radioactivity monitoring must be evaluated and prepared in such a way that they can be used to make an assessment of the burden on the population due to radioactivity in the environment, to calculate trends of population exposure owing to radioactivity in the environment and to decide on early measures in the event of a sudden increase in radioactivity in the environment.

Article 5 (types of measurement)

(1)Measurements of the radioactivity of samples shall be carried out using specific methods.

(2)Irrespective of the provision of the previous paragraph, the use of non-specific measuring methods and low resolution gamma spectrometry shall be permitted, where this involves measurements during intervention works in emergencies or if the radioisotope composition of the contamination is known and does not change with time

(3)Individual types of measurement may be carried out using automatic meters directly at the location and during the time of sampling, such as measuring external radiation or the concentrations of radionuclides in the air.

Article 6 (methods of sampling and measuring radioactivity)

(1)Sampling and the preparation of samples must be performed in such a way as to estimate and minimise losses of radionuclides during sampling and preparation of samples for measuring.

(2)The preparation and measurement of grab and collected samples must be performed in the shortest possible time after sampling, in order to enable a determination of the presence of short-lived radionuclides and immediate measures in the event of increased radioactivity.

(3)In composite samples the preparation of partial samples must be performed directly after sampling is finished, and measurements taken directly after the preparation of the final partial sample.

(4)In periodic sampling the measurement result must be known by the end of the next sampling period at the latest.

(5)In cases of emergency monitoring of radioactivity the period of sampling for collected and composite samples shall be shorter than the sampling period for radioactivity monitoring in the environment and shall be adapted to the given circumstances.

(6)Measurements must be carried out using calibrated and maintained equipment, and must be performed in such a way that their results are traceable to internationally recognised measurement standards. At the same time, each measurement result must indicate its measurement uncertainty.

(7)The minimum technical requirements for the preparation of samples, gamma spectrometers in laboratories, in-situ gamma spectrometers, meters of beta activity (3H, 14C, 90Sr), meters of alpha activity and spectrum analyses are laid down in Annex 1, which is a constituent part of these Rules.

Article 7 (measuring external radiation)

(1)External radiation must be measured using monitors for continuous measuring of dose rate in the air and using luminescence dosimeters with excitation, such that monitors are placed at a height of 1 m from the ground, where the continuous measurement dose rate meters must be connected to a system for electronic data communication, and data on measured dose rates must be continuously monitored and included in the system of early notification of increased radioactivity.

(2)The Environment Agency of the Republic of Slovenia shall manage and maintain the system of continuous measurement of dose rate in the air referred to in the previous paragraph, and shall electronically collect the results of such measurements, ensure their quality and deliver them to the system of early notification of increased radioactivity at the SNSA.

Article 8 (measuring radioactive contamination of air, water and soil)

(1)Contamination outdoors shall be assessed on the basis of gamma radiation measurements at a height of 1 m from the ground and of laboratory measurements of soil samples. Direct outdoor gamma spectrometry measurements and laboratory measurements shall be performed in such a way that they detect surface contamination caused by gamma emitters with a dose rate of 1 nSv/h or more.

(2)The concentration of 222Rn in the air shall be determined by the method of detection nuclear tracks, by the method of alpha spectrometry or by measuring the activity of adsorbed222Rn on activated carbon and through other standard methods.

(3)Concentrations of radon short-lived decay products shall be determined by continuous interval pumping of air through a filter and continuous measurement of activity using the alpha spectrometry method or another standard method.