Recent activities on clearance by IAEA and Japanese organizations

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published a Safety Guide (RS-G-1.7) on the application of the concepts of exclusion, exemption and clearance in 2004. In this Safety Guide, the IAEA proposes the activity concentrations can be applied to clearance. The Nuclear Safety Commission reevaluated their clearance levels to reflect the new technological information given in the IAEA Safety Guide and other reports. The Japanese Regulatory Authorities have been investigating and discussing regulatory rules on clearance including verification system of clearance levels. And the Atomic Society of Japan has deliberated the technological standards for the verification of clearance levels performed by nuclear operators. In this paper the activities and outcomes by those organizations are outlined, and the issues to be solved on clearance are listed and the basic ideas for solution are discussed. (author)