Evaluation of Guidelines for Exposures to Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (1999) / Chapter Skim
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5 Basic Approaches to Regulating Radiation Exposures of the Public
5 Basic Approaches to Regulating Radiation Exposures of the Public
Pages 89-96
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From page 89... ...
The fundamental purpose of any standard for radionuclides in the environment is to limit health risks to exposed individuals and populations. Many standards for controlling radiation exposures of the public have been developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
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From page 90... ...
This guidance would apply to all controlled sources of exposure, including sources not associated with operations of the nuclear fuel cycle, but excepting exposures to indoor radon and beneficial medical exposures. Because the guidance would apply to nearly all sources of exposure other than natural background, it embodies important statements of principle about acceptable health risks to the public posed by radiation exposure.
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From page 91... ...
However, on the basis of experiences with the nuclear industry, ICRP expected that individual doses substantially below the limit were easily achievable for nearly all controlled sources. A second example of the use of judgments about an acceptable risk in developing standards for controlling radiation exposures of the public is found in EPA's current regulations for airborne emissions of radionuclides developed under authority of the Clean Air Act and discussed in chapter 7.
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From page 92... ...
JUDGMENTS ABOUT ACHIEVABILITY OF HEALTH RISKS Many EPA regulations that apply to specific sources or practices were based primarily on judgments about the ability of available technologies to control or reduce releases of radionuclides to the environment, levels of radioactivity in the environment, exposures, or doses, rather than a priori judgments about acceptable risks for the exposure situations of concern. Regulations based primarily on judgments about the ability of technologies to control or reduce radiation exposures of He public include standards for operations of uranium fuel-cycle facilities, radioactivity in community drinkingwater systems, radioactivity in liquid discharges from particular mines or mills, uranium and thorium mill tailings, and management and disposal of spent fuel, high-level waste, and transuranic waste (see chapter 7~.
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From page 93... ...
In each case, however, the judgments necessarily were somewhat subjective; there are no purely objective criteria for judging what is reasonably achievable, and judgments about the achievability of particular doses or risks for a particular exposure situation can be influenced by their magnitude in relation to doses or risks that have been judged acceptable for other exposure situations. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS IN DEVELOPING STANDARDS As described in the previous two sections, judgments about the acceptability of risks or the achievability of risks are fundamental to the development of all standards for controlling radiation exposures of the public.
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From page 94... ...
have been banned by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission without regard for the magnitude of the resulting doses and risks because there is no overriding benefit. Measurability of Radioactivity in the Environment A standard for controlling radiation exposures of the public is useful in practice only to the extent that compliance with the standard can be verified by environmental measurements, including measurements of external radiation or quantities of radionuclides in air, water, soil, foodstuffs, or other materials.
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From page 95... ...
Furthermore, there is no direct evidence of increased risks due to radiation exposure at magnitudes of natural background (National Research Council 1990~. Second, levels of naturally occurring radionuclides in environmental media, including considerations of their bioavailability, can be important in developing standards for particular sources or practices.
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From page 96... ...
Second, other considerations also can be important in developing standards for radioactivity in the environment, including the justification of practices (positive net benefit) , the ability to measure radioactivity in the environment at levels corresponding to the standards and the magnitude and variability of natural background radiation, and the levels of naturally occurring radionuclides in various environmental media.
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