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Chapter 6 Radiation Control

Chapter 6 Radiation Control

  1. Purposes of Radiation Protection

Laws and legislation for nuclear regulation require control of radiation-generating facilities and of the persons who enter the facilities as radiation may present a health hazard to the human body. Moreover, the Industrial Safety and Health Law requires necessary control for protection of workers in order to prevent health hazard due to radiation.

The purposes of radiation protection, which should be recognized in operation of NPPs, are harmonizing with the surrounding environment, ensuring safety of workers, and preserving plant facilities. In particular, focus is on:

  1. E nsuring safety of persons by observing the dose limits provided in legislation and

  2. R educing discharge of radioactive wastes so as not to affect the surrounding environment

Nowadays, with a viewpoint towards providing a safer and socially more supportative working environment in which radiation workers can work without anxiety, the concept that contamination of radiation workers and discharge of radioactive wastes should be kept "as low as reasonably achievable (what is called ALARA)" has been adopted as a basic principle.

Additionally, each radiation worker should keep in mind that achieving the purposes of radiation protection includes the following:

  1. Preventing waste or diseconomy due to over­protection coming from inordinate worries;

  2. Preventing negligence or disregard resulting from too little interest; and

  3. Providing sufficient and balanced radiation control taking into account economic efficiency and rationality.

  1. Regulation for Radiation Protection

  1. Legislative System for Radiation Protection

All of the legislation for radiation protection in Japan has been established out of deference to recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), and the current regulations as of 2007 were established incorporating the 1990 recommendations (ICRP Publication 60).

The ICRP offers guidelines concerning radiation protection and is the most prestigious international authority in this field; its recommendations are accepted worldwide. ICRP has disclosed study results in the form of recommendations and reports, and the basic recommendations concerning radiation protection have been re-examined several times as new knowledge has been obtained.

The legislation related to radiation protection includes the "Law on the Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors (hereinafter referred to as the "Reactor Regulation Law")" in accordance with the Atomic Energy Basic Law, the "Industrial Safety and Health Law" and the "Electricity Utilities Industry Law" and their enforcement ordinances, rules and technical standards. The legislation specifies required matters for radiation protection in design, construction, operation, and maintenance of NPPs.

The regulations to be observed concerning radiation protection for installation and operation of NPPs are the "Rule for the Installation, Operation, etc. of Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors" in accordance with the "Reactor Regulation Law", the "Rules for Prevention of Damage from Ionizing Radiation" in accordance with the "Industrial Safety and Health Law", and technical standards in accordance with the "Electricity Utilities Industry Law."

The "Rule for the Installation, Operation, etc. of

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Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors" provides radiation protection provisions for operation of NPPs, including the following items.

  • Area control for radiation protection

  • Radiation-dose control for persons engaged in work in controlled areas

  • Measurement and monitoring of radiation levels

  • Radioactive waste management

  • Radiation control facilities

  • Control of components

Therefore, reactor establishers are responsible for the "environmental impacts" due to radiation and radioactive materials generated in their nuclear reactor facilities, and for management of the "persons who go into the controlled area in order to carry outwork for operation and maintenance."

On the other hand, the "Industrial Safety and Health Law" imposes responsibility on licensees (employers) for their workers’ safety and health (including radiation safety) during the term of their employment. Therefore, a company which has contracted to do some work within a NPP even if it owns neither the nuclear reactor nor the controlled area, is responsible for management of radiation safety for its employed workers. Then, the "Rules for Prevention of Damage from Ionizing Radiation" provide details on radiation protection for work within the controlled area, such as area control, monitoring of radiation levels, methods of radiation protection, and radiation dose control for workers, which are almost the same as provided in the "Reactor Regulation Law."

Besides, the "Labour Standards Law" requires compliance on working hours in accordance with the agreement with the labor union in Article 36, which is called the "36 agreement", which specifies that the daily working hours must not exceed the agreed ones (8 hours) by 2 hours or more for hazardous jobs. Since the work done under the presence of radiation (which is called radiation work) is designated as a hazardous one in the enforcement rules of the Labour Standards Law, it should be kept in mind that the working hours in the controlled area are regulated to be 10 hours or less per day.

The "Electricity Utilities Industry Law" provides that nuclear reactor facilities should be

fundamentally in accordance with the "Reactor Regulation Law", but the Technical Standards" established based on this specify radiation control facilities (shield, ventilation facility, radiation monitoring facility, disposal facility, etc.) to be provided in nuclear reactor facilities, and the facilities concerned are to be approved regarding installation, modification, and use, and to undergo periodic inspection.

The competent authorities guide licensees with "generic letters" in addition to the legislation. Two generic letters have been issued by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which should be kept in mind for radiation protection.

One of them is the "Enhancement of Measures for Exposure Control at Nuclear Power Stations, Ki-hatsu No. 573, September 5, 1981" which gives a guide for preparation of a construction plan, and requires that a construction plan including radiation protection methods be prepared for the work in the controlled area where dose of 1 mSv or more per week is expected and the plan and methods be made well-known to workers, and particularly when the dose is 1 mSv or more per day, the plan should be submitted to the Labor Standards Supervision Office.

The other generic letter is for education of radiation workers ("Procedures to Promote Occupational Health Education for Radiation Works at Nuclear Power Stations, Ki-hatsu No. 328, June 26,1984"), which gives guides to unify and enhance subjects, contents, time periods, and frequency etc. of the education, and electric power companies and manufacturers have developed the unified guideline and have conducted their education according to it

In addition, following the criticality accident at the uranium fuel processing plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, which occurred on September 30,1999, these generic letters were issued as new generic letter incorporating implementation of occupational health education for workers, and enhancement of management for safety and health during radiation work, etc.*1.

(* " Enhancement of Management for Safety and Sanitation Concerning Radiation Works at Nuclear Facilities (Ki- hatsu No. 581), September 19, 2000, Enforcement of the Ministry Order to Revise a Part of the Rules for Industrial Safety and Health and Rules for Protection against Ionizing Radiation (Ki-hatsu No. 744, December 28,1999)

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