A Study on the regulation improvement through the analysis of domestic and international categorization and licensing process for large particle accelerator

Many foreign countries use separate criteria and regulation procedure according to the categorization of accelerators. In Korea, nuclear and radiation related facilities are divided into 4 groups: 1) Nuclear Reactor and related facilities, 2) Nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear material facilities, 3) Disposal and transport, 4) Radioisotope and radiation generating devices related facilities. All accelerator facilities are categorized as group 4 regardless of their size and type. For facilities that belong to group 1 and 2, Radiation Environmental Impact Assessment Report(REIR) and Preliminary Decommissioning Plan Report(PDPR) should be submitted in construction licensing stage, but there are no rules about above documents for large particle accelerator facilities. Facilities that belong to 4) RI and RG, only two documents of Radiation Safety Report(RSR) and Safety Control Regulation(SCR) are submitted in licensing stage. Because there is no detailed guidelines according to facilities type, properties of each facility are not considered in preparation and licensing process. If we set up the categorization of accelerator facilities, we can expect the effective and safe construction and operation of the large accelerator facilities on the licensing and operation process. Similarly to other counties' criteria, 50 MeV of particle energy could be used as energy band of large particle accelerator. According to categorization, it is necessary to adopt graded licensing stages and separated safety documents. In case of large particle accelerators, it is appropriate to divide the licensing stages to construction and operation. We currently submit PDPR in case of reactor and related facilities, nuclear fuel cycle, and nuclear material facilities. Depending on the energy of particle accelerators, it is necessary to prepare the decontamination and decommissioning for the decrease of current and future burden from radioactive waste. From the arrangement of separated guidelines on safety documents according to the categorization of accelerator facilities, the reduction of confusion and confliction during the licensing process are expected