Radon in Workplaces—czech Approach to Eu BSS Implementation

Abstract

The European Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom of December 2013 established inter alia the uniform basic safety standards for the health protection of individuals being subject to occupational exposure. In Article 54, a new obligation is introduced-to regulate radon exposure in workplaces. The EU Member States are obliged to set national reference value for radon in workplaces, delineate the areas where the regulation will be applied and determine the concerned types of workplaces. The presented article shows the Czech approach to implementation of this obligation in national legislation and the first design of regulator's control activities to set the obligation in practice.

A method for radiologically evaluating indoor use of dimension stone considering radon exhalation rates

“…As more than one radionuclide contributes to the dose, the EU directive No. 112 (22) established a screening tool for building materials based on the maximum gamma-ray dose estimate for a given material, based on the specific activities of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K. In December 2013, a new directive on ionizing radiation came into force in the EU, laying out uniform basic safety standards for the health protection of individuals exposed to ionizing radiation, both environmentally and occupationally (21,23). This directive also reinforced the Gamma Index proposed in EU directive No.…”

“…Radon is addressed explicitly in Articles 54, 74, 103, and Annex XVIII. Moreover, Annex XVIII of the directive, which refers to the national radon action plan, introduces the identification of building materials with significant radon exhalation as a tool to prevent radon penetration in new buildings (21,23,24). Indoor radon concentration was set at a reference level of 300 Bq/m 3 with a target concentration of less than 100 Bq/m 3 , in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation (25,26).…”