International Recommendations on Monitoring for Compliance with Exemption and Clearance Levels and with Remediation Criteria for Sites - 13085

Materials of different radioactivity levels are generated during the operation and subsequent decommissioning of nuclear facilities and other facilities using radioactive materials. Particularly during the decommissioning process, large amount of material can be generated, and significant part can contain radioactivity below the limits requiring regulatory control, and, therefore, could be released for further use or for disposal as nonradioactive waste. The concepts of exclusion, exemption and clearance from regulatory control for radioactive material are defined and explained in the 'International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources'. In the previous period considerable efforts have been made to develop consensus on the application of these concepts and to provide recommendations on the two key aspects: derivation of the activity concentration levels and demonstration and monitoring for compliance with these levels. An international consensus has been achieved on activity concentration values for radioactive material of natural and artificial origin below which regulatory control is not required. The agreement on this topic is documented in the IAEA Safety Standards Series No. RS-G-1.7, 'Application of the Concepts of Exclusion, Exemption and Clearance'. Technical basis for the derivation of the activity concentration levels, including detailed scenario descriptions and parameters used in the modeling, was explained in the IAEA Safety Report on Derivation of Activity Concentration Values for Exclusion, Exemption and Clearance (SRS 44). Recently the IAEA published a Safety Report on the Monitoring for Compliance with Exemption and Clearance Levels (SRS 67), which aims to assist operators and technical support organizations in planning, performing and assessing the results of monitoring of material considered for release from regulatory control, with subsequent validation of compliance with established levels. It is also meant to be useful for regulators when verifying whether a monitoring strategy is appropriately defined and implemented to demonstrate compliance with the established levels. Apart from significant amount of materials to be cleared during decommissioning, in some cases building structures and site areas are also subject of release from regulatory control. This issue was addressed in the IAEA Safety Guide WS-G-5.1 'Release of Sites from Regulatory Control on Termination of Practices'. In order to provide additional more detailed guidance and practical recommendations, the IAEA developed a Safety Report on Monitoring for Compliance with Remediation Criteria for Sites (SRS 72). This paper is not aimed in going into the technical details elaborated in the two IAEA Safety Reports (SRS 67 and SRS 72). Its purpose is to provide overview information on the main aspects of monitoring for compliance with exemption and clearance levels for materials and with the remediation criteria for sites, considered in the two publications mentioned.