The Spanish Nuclear Safety Council hosts the International Workshop on the European Directive for the protection against the dangers of ionsing radiation

The president of the CSN, Juan Carlos Lentijo, highlighted the efforts of HERCA member countries towards improving regulation in radiological protection

The Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) hosted an international workshop on the transposition of the European Directive on Basic Safety Standards for Protection against the Dangers Arising from Exposure to Ionising Radiation (EU-BSSD) into national regulatory frameworks. This event, organized by the Spanish regulator and the European Association of Competent Authorities for Radiological Protection (HERCA), brings together more than 135 radiation protection experts from across Europe.

This forum aims to facilitate sharing the approaches experiences and lessons learnt from the transposition of the Directive 2013/59/EURATOM. Participants included representatives of HERCA member countries, the European Commission, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the World Health Organization and the European Federation of Medical Physics Societies (EFOMP), among others.

The president of the CSN, Juan Carlos Lentijo, opened the meeting by acknowledging HERCA’s efforts to bring together regulators and stakeholders in a single forum to share lessons learned, challenges and opinions on the transposition of the European directive in the different countries. Lentijo also highlighted the important exercise of transparency that this entails.

Lentijo encouraged regulators to continue working “towards a high quality legal framework that incorporates the maximum possible improvements without unnecessarily complicating processes and reducing administrative burdens”. Likewise, he stressed that the conclusions of this seminar will be of great value when it comes to dictating the standards and guides that must be developed in the transposition regulations along the different HERCA member countries . “This work of harmonisation and dissemination contributes to strengthening the regulatory system at European level, to improve its implementation and to guarantee greater adherence to it”, Lentijo claimed.

Technical sessions

Speakers from a dozen countries met to address topics such as the protection of workers in environments with high radon concentrations and in activities involving the processing of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), during the different sessions. They also commented the methodology for monitoring the doses for exposed workers and the recognition of radiation protection experts and medical physics experts. In addition, other important topics were discussed such as the justification of medical exposures and imaging for non-medical purposes, as well as the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Several experts from the Spanish regulator participated in the workshop, both moderating sessions and presenting relevant topics. The deputy director for Occupational Radiological Protection, Isabel Villanueva, moderated the session on dosimetry and Inmaculada Simón, deputy director for Environmental Radiological Protection, the session on Existing Exposures. Also, in the session dedicated to waste generated from activities with natural radioactive materials (NORM Waste), Marta García-Talavera, head of the Natural Radiation Department, explained some guidance on the practical authorisation and exemption of this type of waste and talked about radiation protection measures in workplaces with radon levels above the reference level.

EU Directive 2013/59/EURATOM

The first Basic Safety Standard (BSS) Directive was adopted in 1959 to ensure the highest possible protection of workers and members of the public against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation. Since then, the Directive has been amended regularly, taking account of the latest scientific findings and recommendations. The most recent BSS Directive was adopted in 2013 and had to be transposed into national legislation by February 2018. The new Directive modernises and consolidates the European radiation protection legislation into a single instrument.

The current Directive extended the application to the entire range of radiation sources and exposure categories: operational, medical and pu

blic, both in emergencies and existing situations. In addition, it covers both the protection of workers exposed in nuclear and radiological facilities, as well as workers exposed in places with radon and in activities involving the treatment of natural radioactive material. It also includes of the protection of the public, particularly regarding radon in dwellings and the prevention of incidents and accidents in radiotherapy. The regulations also reinforce the member countries emergency preparedness and response requirements.

About HERCA

HERCA was created in 2007 to initiate an exchange of knowledge and experiences in order to facilitate practical and harmonised solutions to important regulatory issues in radiation protection. Although the regulatory framework in this matter within the European Union is subject to regulations developed by the European Commission, such as Regulations or Directives, the practical application of their requirements can be implemented in very different ways by each member state.

The Association is composed of representatives of 56 European competent authorities in Radiological Protection, belonging to 32 European countries (including the 27 EU Member States).

Working groups are established by HERCA to address issues of common interest (education and training, emergency preparedness and response, medical applications, natural radiation sources, research and industrial sources and practices, veterinary applications).

Check here the glossary of technical terms