Regulation related to Radiation Protection
Radiation protection legislation has been overhauled to better protect European citizens.
A revision of the EURATOM Directive broadened its scope to cover all radiation sources and categories of exposure. Occupational, medical, public and environmental risks are now all included, partly in response to lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear accident. Radiation protection measurement (dosimetry) will need to become more responsive to changing needs, by supporting new technologies such as pulsed doses in nuclear medicine, more harmonised worker protection measures, and digitalisation trends.
As there is no comprehensive facility capable of supporting all these requirements, the European Metrology Network for Radiation Protection aims at supporting the introduction of a legally enforceable European quality assurance system.
EURATOM Directive
Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM
The European Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM(3) laying down the Basic Safety Standards (BSS) for protection against the dangers from exposure to ionising radiation, is the main European regulation on Radiation Protection. The BSS Directive is transposed by every European Union member state and therefore is or has been recently enforced.
EURATOM Treaty
Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community
The EURATOM Treaty establishes the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and its main aims are: to promote research and dissemination of technical information; to set uniform safety standards to protect the public and industry workers; to facilitate research; and to ensure civil nuclear materials are not diverted from peaceful use. The EURATOM Treaty also promotes harmonisation and the periodic communication of measurement results to the European Commission and to the public.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12016A
Further Council Directives
Several Council Directives complement the BSS on specific domains and require the measurement of different quantities to ensure compliance with the regulations. The objectives of these legislations cover, for instance, water for human consumption, contamination of food and feed stuff following an accident or radiological emergency, radiological surveys of the environment, to name a few see Table 1 in following publication:
Metrology supporting the European regulation for radiation protection
João G Alves, Margarida C Caldeira, Annette Röttger, Behnam Khanbabaee, Christelle Adam-Guillermin, Teemu Siiskonen, Miloš Živanović, Amra Šabeta, Denis Glavič-Cindro
Radiation Protection Dosimetry 200 (2023), 155-163
https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncad289