International developments on exemption from regulatory control

The principles for exemption from regulatory control which were the subject of an international consensus in 1988 have formed the basis for deriving quantitative guidance for use in the standards on radiation protection which have been jointly produced by the international organisations. The paper outlines the procedure adopted for deriving the exemption levels in the standards. The exemption levels will be used as the means for determining which radiation sources and practices do not need to be regulated. The principles have also been used as the basis for deriving a set of internationally agreed clearance levels for use in controlling the release of slightly contaminated materials from regulated facilities. The method used for deriving the clearance levels from the results of national and international studies is described and the values compared and contrasted with the exemption levels mentioned above. (author). 5 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs