Additional guidance on protecting on-site personnel from the excessive risks of a radiation accident

Abstract

Advice was published in 2005 (NRPB 2005 Doc. NRPB 16 1-29) to provide a framework for the protection of on-site personnel who are not involved in mitigating actions in the event of a radiation accident. Such persons could include employees of the site operator, contractors and visitors. Following on from this advice, the HPA has developed additional on-site protection guidance (Watson et al 2007 Report to HSE) (the guidance produced by Watson et al (2007) was written as a commercial contract report for the Health and Safety Executive. Parties who have relevant interest in this guidance, or who wish to comment on it, can request a copy from the HPA). The issues discussed are protection of the unborn child, measures to protect against serious deterministic injury and high individual risk of stochastic effects, implications of off-site and public exposure considerations, and development of on-site neighbouring areas. In each case particular thought is required to ensure that protective measures are efficient and do not lead to any discontinuities in the level of protection offered. Although not formal HPA advice, the new guidance is intended to aid discussions between operators and regulators.

Additional guidance on protecting on-site personnel from the excessive risks of a radiation accident

“…However, it is important to be able to provide suitable protection once it is declared, which may be at a very early stage. Hence, where exposure is predominantly from external low LET radiation, it is recommended that the emergency planning threshold dose for pregnant workers in the first 21 weeks of a declared pregnancy is reduced to 400 mGy (Watson et al 2007). This reduced threshold is to protect against foetal death, gross malformations and severe mental retardation during the more sensitive periods of development.…”

“…This reduced threshold is to protect against foetal death, gross malformations and severe mental retardation during the more sensitive periods of development. More detail regarding the reduction of the emergency planning threshold is given in Watson et al (2007).…”

“…The purpose of that document was to bring all contingency planning within a common framework and to enable employers to plan on a common basis to reduce risks from accidents, despite the variation in types of accidents that may potentially occur at a range of nuclear and non-nuclear sites. Subsequently, HPA has developed new exploratory guidance on a number of issues (Watson et al 2007). These issues (protection of the unborn child; measures to protect against serious deterministic injury 1 and high individual risk of stochastic effects; implications of off-site and public exposure considerations; and development of on-site neighbouring areas) all concern situations where particular thought is required to ensure that protective measures are efficient and do not lead to any discontinuities in protection.…”

“…HPA recognises the difficulty of developing guidance in this area and would welcome comments from interested parties on the exploratory guidance given by (Watson et al 2007) and the key aspects of the guidance presented below.…”

“…Such persons could include employees of the site operator, contractors and visitors. Following on from this advice, the HPA has developed additional on-site protection guidance (Watson et al 2007 Report to HSE) (the guidance produced by Watson et al (2007) was written as a commercial contract report for the Health and Safety Executive. Parties who have relevant interest in this guidance, or who wish to comment on it, can request a copy from the HPA).…”