5. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ON OCCUPATIONAL RADIATION PROTECTION
IN EMERGENCY
5.1 The government
The government shall establish and maintain a legal and regulatory framework for protection and
safety and shall establish an effectively independent regulatory body with specified
responsibilities and functions. (BSS Requirement 2)
In terms of para.4.12 of the BSS, the government must establish a programme for managing,
controlling and recording the doses, receiving by emergency workers in an emergency, which must
be implemented by response organizations and employers.
The programme is based on the fundamental precept that government have the ultimate
responsibility to protect life, health, property, the environment and quality of life on their
territories, and takes account of their rights and duties under international law.
Bilateral or multilateral arrangements, or where appropriate a combination of these, between
countries for preventing or minimizing injury and damage are a useful support to these
responsibilities.
5.2 Regulatory body
Although the probability of emergencies at nuclear installations is low, if such emergencies do
occur at installations of certain types, then precautionary/urgent protective actions may need to be
taken near the site.
The regulatory body shall establish or adopt regulations and guides for protection and safety and
shall establish a system to ensure their implementation. (BSS Requirement 3)
Regulatory body requires the registrant or licensee to have detailed emergency response
arrangements for these installations, including an emergency classification scheme to initiate
relevant response operations both on and off the site according to the emergency class.
If there is a release of radioactive material that could lead to an actual, potential or perceived
emergency, there will be a need to monitor radiation and contamination levels out to greater
distances in order to review any initial protective actions and consider more extensive agricultural
countermeasures.
Other countries may need access to technical and administrative information to enable them to
provide advice on trade and travel and other protection issues to their domestic population and to
nationals working abroad. Even for events without significant radiological releases, there may be
considerable public anxiety, and national competent authorities in other countries might be
expected to provide detailed information to their government/public regarding the status and
nature of the emergency.
5.3 Registrants, licensees and employers
In terms of para.3.43 of the BSS, if the safety assessment indicates that there is a reasonable
likelihood of an emergency affecting either workers or members of the public, the registrant or
licensee shall prepare an emergency plan for the protection of people and the environment.
As part of this emergency plan, the registrant or licensee shall include arrangements for the
prompt identification of an emergency, and for determining the appropriate level of the emergency
response. In relation to the arrangements for the emergency response at the scene by the
registrant or licensee, the emergency plan shall include, in particular:
(a) Provision for individual monitoring and area monitoring and arrangements for medical
treatment
(b) Arrangements for assessing and mitigating any consequences of an emergency.
According to para.3.44 of the BSS registrants and licensees shall be responsible for the
implementation of their emergency plans and shall be prepared to take any necessary action for
effective response. To prevent the occurrence of conditions that could lead to a loss of control over a
source or to the escalation of such conditions, registrants and licensees shall, as appropriate:
(a) Develop, maintain and implement procedures to provide the means for preventing loss of
control over the source and for regaining control over the source as necessary;
(b) Make available equipment, instrumentation and diagnostic aids that may be needed;
(c) Train and periodically retrain personnel in the procedures to be followed and exercise the
procedures.
The thoroughness of the health and safety management such as dose management, safety
management or health care by the cycle of Plan-Do-Check- Action is indispensable to secure
worker's safety and health. This management for safety and health is available not only for the
nuclear operator but also the principal employer who undertakes construction directly from the
nuclear operator. Especially, it is important to implement the necessary preparedness
systematically on execution of dose management, wearing protective equipment and protection
clothes, and worker’s education and health care in case of radiation emergency beforehand.
Not only the nuclear installation but also the facilities outside nuclear installation with function of
headquarters of nuclear operator or those nuclear sectors and the principal employer should play
each role for these. Therefore, it is necessary to construct the system of the health and safety
management to clarify implementation items on headquarters, the head of facility and principal
employers under the primary responsibility of nuclear operator.
5.3.1
Action items that nuclear operator should implement in advance
5.3.1.1 Establishment of safety and health management system
The nuclear operator should guide or assist contractors and sub-contractors so that the
management for safety and health in the entire nuclear power facilities is appropriately
performed for the following.
・ Appointment of supervisor on safety and health management in nuclear installation
・ Appointment of the person in charge of safety and health management in
contractors concerned
・ Establishment of safety and health council including all contractors concerned in
radiation work
・ Adjustment between the nuclear operator and contractors, contractors and
sub-contractors
・ Execution of work place monitoring relating to external doses of radiation and
concentration of radioactive substance in air
・ Improvement of working environment and instructions in the work based on the
result.
・ Execution of the safety and health education including the radiation work to the
new visitor.
・ Making or improvement of the work rule and the work plan including dose
management and dose reduction of the workers.
・ Standardization of signal and warning in the radiation work
・ Prevention of heat stroke.
・ Measures on refuge and victim's transportation when accident or industrial accident
occurs.
5.3.1.2 Strengthening of access control to nuclear installation of worker engaged in radiation
work
In order to grasp all radiation workers in nuclear installation, the essential information
on a worker who is employed by contractor concerned should be submitted and kept for
dose management and entry management as follows.
・ Company name
・ Name
・ Date of birth
・ Address and telephone number
・ The latest result on health check for ionizing radiation
5.3.1.3 Guidance or help to safety and health education
The routine safety and health education plays a major role to the correspondence in the
emergency.
・ Execution of education for the use of actual protective equipment (Include
appropriate fitting guidance by using the fit tester concerning the respiratory
protective device and the leakage measures by the seal peace for the glasses wearer)
and the protection clothes and the radiation survey meters
・ Execution of education for emergency measures and evacuation in accident
・ Installation of safety and health education facility where audio-visual materials are
equipped
5.3.1.4 Work place monitoring
Basically, the nuclear operator should execute the work place monitoring relating to
external doses of radiation and concentration of radioactive substance in air as part of
the management of the nuclear installation. The result should be transmitted to
contractors concerned to be recognized.
5.3.1.5 Health check for ionizing radiation
According to the request of contractor concerned, the industrial physician of the nuclear
operator should give necessary guidance to the worker who is employed by the
contractor based on the result of health check.
5.3.1.6 Measures on refuge when accident or industrial accident occurs.
Measures on communication, refuge, victim's transportation and the emergency system
including contractors concerned when accident or industrial accident occurs, should be
established and the joint on-the-job training with contractors concerned should be
implemented.
5.3.2
Preparedness for emergency work
When emergency work in TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi NPP according to the accident,
various problems were caused about the execution of the personal dose management,
wearing the protective equipment and the protection clothes, the worker’s educations,
the executions of the health care, systems of making of the work plan and grasps of the
actual situation on sub-contractors. It is thought that there were a lot of things that
appropriate and rapid correspondence was possible with preparations in advance.
Therefore, prepare for the case that urgent work occurs in the nuclear installation, the
head quarter, the installation and the principal employers should make arrangement as
follows.
1) Radiation management
・ Construction of system on dose management section
・ Securing of personal dosimeter
・ Dosimeter circulating management
・ Notification of exposed dose to worker
・ Execution of internal exposure measurement
・ Action on making contact with missing person
2) Health care and medical care system
・ Securing the system on transport of patients from the nuclear installation
・ Maintenance of medical care system in the nuclear installation during emergency
operations
・ Execution of temporary health checkup during emergency operations
・ Measure to prevention of heat stroke during emergency operations
・ Execution of appropriate long-term health care
3) Protective equipment and protection clothes
・ Protection of internal exposure from indoor radioactive substance in the air
・ Thoroughness in appropriate installation of mask
・ Prevention of contamination with polluted water
・ Execution of appropriate worker’s education
4) Work report and grasp of contract system
・ Preparation of system on making work report and on judging
・ Grasp of sub-contract system
・ Securing of accommodations and eating and drinking under contaminated
environment
・
5.4 Workers
The role of the emergency worker should be confirmed beforehand. All workers confirmed in the
plan in the emergency should take appropriate training to execute the role in the emergency
enough. As a result, it is possible to use it to defend voluntarily and to acquire enough information
that becomes the radical when informed consent is necessary. The workers in an emergency
exposure situation will not receive doses (except perhaps workers at the facility during the initial
course of an accident) unless a decision is made to expose to the source. Thus, in most cases, it is
reasonable to continue to treat workers’ exposure according to the requirements for planned
exposure situations to the extent possible, in accordance with the graded approach, particularly in
the later stages of the emergency exposure situation. Thus, when it is possible to execute it, it is
necessary to apply a corresponding system to the radiation protection system to the planned
exposure situation. Nevertheless, it becomes might have to take the protection measures promptly
during emergency operations, and it might be necessary to accept the exposure more than the dose
limit of the planned exposure situation for some workers (For instance, to prevent the mass
exposure of the people or to rescue people). In such a case, the worker will be allowed to receive the
dose that exceeds the dose limit of the occupational exposure usually applied in the emergency
based on informed consent. Still, such a dose should be optimized, and fall below the dose level
provided beforehand according to the action undertaken.
The exposure of emergency workers starts with the assignment to undertake a particular action
and finishes with completion of the assigned task or declaration of termination of the emergency.