Radiological Protection Act 1991 (Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2019

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 30/2019
• Year: 2019

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigúil” of 8th of February, 2019

ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

Part 1 – CITATIONS, DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE Regulation 1 Citation Regulation 2 Definitions Regulation 3 Scope Regulation 4 Exclusion from Scope Part 2 – REGULATORY CONTROL Section 1 – Justification Regulation 5 Justification of Practices SECTION 2 – Graded Approach to Authorisation Regulation 6 Practices involving consumer products Regulation 7 Prohibition of practices Section 2 – Graded Approach to Authorisation Regulation 8 Notification Regulation 9 Exemption from Notification Regulation 10 Registration or licensing Regulation 11 Licensing Regulation 12 Authorisation Regulation 13 Authorisation procedure Regulation 14 Conditions specified in a Licence Regulation 15 Conditions attached to a Registration Regulation 16 Non-medical imaging practices Regulation 17 Radioactive Waste Licences Regulation 18 Licensing of importation and exportation of Radioactive Waste Regulation 19 Release from regulatory control Part 3 – SYSTEM OF RADIATION PROTECTION Section 1 – Tools for optimisation Regulation 20 Dose constraints for occupational and public exposure Regulation 21 Reference levels Section 2 – Dose limitation Regulation 22 Age limit for exposed workers Regulation 23 Dose limits for occupational exposure Regulation 24 Protection of pregnant and breastfeeding workers Regulation 25 Specially authorised exposures Regulation 26 Dose Limits for apprentices and students Regulation 27 Dose Limits for public exposure Regulation 28 Estimation of the Effective and Equivalent Dose Part 4 – PROTECTION OF EXPOSED WORKERS, APPRENTICES AND STUDENTS Regulation 29 Responsibilities of the undertaking and employers Regulation 30 Arrangements in workplaces Regulation 31 Prior Risk Assessment Regulation 32 Radiation Safety Procedures Regulation 33 Consultations with a Radiation Protection Adviser Regulation 34 Role of Radiation Protection Officer Regulation 35 Radiation Protection Education, Training and Information Regulation 36 Classification of workplaces Regulation 37 Requirements for Controlled and Supervised Areas Regulation 38 Radiological surveillance of the workplace Part 5 – CATEGORISATION AND MONITORING OF WORKERS Regulation 39 Categorisation of exposed workers Regulation 40 Operational protection of apprentices and students Regulation 41 Individual Monitoring Regulation 42 Recording and Reporting of Results Regulation 43 Access to the Results of Individual Monitoring Regulation 44 National Dose Register Regulation 45 Medical surveillance of exposed workers Regulation 46 Medical classification Regulation 47 Medical records Regulation 48 Special medical surveillance Regulation 49 Appeals in relation to medical surveillance Regulation 50 Duties of Exposed Workers, Apprentices, Students and Employers Part 6 – PUBLIC EXPOSURES Regulation 51 Operational protection of members of the public Regulation 52 Tasks for the undertaking Regulation 53 Monitoring of radioactive discharges Regulation 54 Estimation of doses to members of the public Part 7 – EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE Regulation 55 National Plan for Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Exposures Regulation 56 Contaminated Areas and Existing Exposure Situations Regulation 57 Major Emergency Plans Regulation 58 Emergency Preparedness for Licensed Undertakings Regulation 59 Duty of Undertakings to inform members of the public likely to be affected in the event of a radiological exposure situation Regulation 60 Emergency response for Undertakings Regulation 61 Communication and recording of significant events Regulation 62 Emergency occupational exposure Regulation 63 Prior information and training for emergency workers Part 8 – NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIATION Regulation 64 National Radon Control Strategy Regulation 65 Indoor exposure to radon in domestic dwellings Regulation 66 Radon in workplaces Regulation 67 Gamma radiation from building materials Regulation 68 Identification of practices involving naturally-occurring radioactive material Part 9 – CONTROL OF RADIOACTIVE SOURCES Regulation 69 Control of radioactive sources and radiation generators Regulation 70 Requirements for control of high-activity sealed sources Regulation 71 Specific requirements for licensing of high-activity sealed sources Regulation 72 Record keeping by the undertaking Regulation 73 Record keeping by the competent authority Regulation 74 Control of high-activity sealed sources Regulation 75 Metal Contamination in recycling installations Regulation 76 Detection of Orphan Sources Regulation 77 Recovery and disposal of orphan sources Part 10 – SERVICES AND EXPERTS Regulation 78 Recognition of Dosimetry Services Regulation 79 Radiation Protection Advisers Regulation 80 Radiation Protection Officers Part 11 – ENFORCEMENT Regulation 81 Inspections Regulation 82 Enforcement Notices Part 12 – REVOCATION OF LEGISLATION Regulation 83 Revocations Part 13 – TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS Regulation 84 Licences Regulation 85 Applications for Licences Regulation 86 Dosimetry Services Regulation 87 Radiation Protection Advisers SCHEDULE 1 SCHEDULE 2 SCHEDULE 3 SCHEDULE 4 SCHEDULE 5 SCHEDULE 6 SCHEDULE 7 SCHEDULE 8 SCHEDULE 9 SCHEDULE 10 SCHEDULE 11 SCHEDULE 12 SCHEDULE 13 SCHEDULE 14 SCHEDULE 15 SCHEDULE 16

RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION ACT 1991 (IONISING RADIATION) REGULATIONS 2019

S.I. No. 30 of 2019

I, RICHARD BRUTON, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by subsections (1) and (2) of Section 30 of the Radiological Protection Act 1991 (No. 9 of 1991), after consultation with the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform, Health, Housing, Planning and Local Government, and the Environmental Protection Agency, Health Information and Quality Authority, and the Health and Safety Authority for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM of 5 December 20131 , as affected by Corrigendum to Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM2 , laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation and for the purpose of giving further effect to Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM of 19 July 20113 establishing a Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, hereby make the following Regulations: –

Part 1 - CITATIONS, DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Radiological Protection Act 1991 (Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2019.

Definitions

2. (1) In these Regulations: –

“Absorbed dose” (D) is the energy absorbed per unit mass

where

is the mean energy imparted by ionising radiation to the matter in a volume element;

dm is the mass of the matter in this volume element.

In these Regulations, absorbed dose denotes the dose averaged over a tissue or an organ. The unit for absorbed dose is the gray (Gy) where one gray is equal to one joule per kilogram:

“accelerator” means equipment or installation in which particles are accelerated, emitting ionising radiation with energy higher than 1 mega-electron volt (MeV);

“accidental exposure” means an exposure of individuals, other than emergency workers, as a result of an accident;

“activation” means a process through which a stable nuclide is transformed into a radionuclide by irradiating with particles or high-energy photons the material in which it is contained;

“activity” (A), other than in relation to a human activity or a relevant activity, is the activity of an amount of a radionuclide in a particular energy state at a given time. It is the quotient of dN by dt, where dN is the expectation value of the number of nuclear transitions from that energy state in the time interval dt: –

The unit of activity is the becquerel (Bq);

“air crew” means the cabin and flight crew of an aircraft operated by an air operator or an undertaking in the State which operates an aircraft;

“air operator” means the holder of an Air Operator’s Certificate issued by the Irish Aviation Authority in accordance with the Irish Aviation Authority (Air Operators’ Certificate) Order 1999 ( S.I. No. 420 of 1999 );

“apprentice” means a person receiving training or instruction within an undertaking with a view to the person concerned exercising a specific skill;

“approved dosimetry service” means a body or an individual competent to calibrate, read or interpret individual monitoring devices, or to measure radioactivity in the human body or in biological samples, or to assess doses, whose capacity to act in this respect is recognised by the Agency;

“authorisation” means the registration or licensing of a practice;

“becquerel” (Bq) is the special name of the unit of activity. One becquerel is equivalent to one nuclear transition per second: ;

“building material” means any construction product for incorporation in a permanent manner in a building or parts thereof and the performance of which has an effect on the performance of the building with regard to exposure of its occupants to ionising...