[en] In January 2020, the Austrian legislature worked intensively on the complete implementation of Directive 2013/59 /Euratom into national law - the publication of the new version of the Austrian Radiation Protection Act and the associated ordinances is imminent. Fortunately, for the organization of radiation protection within companies revolutionary news are not expected yet.

[en] Service behavior is defined generally as service behavior that refers to official job descriptions, service scripts, and completes core service tasks using standard service procedures. Evaluation of the behavior of service officers has the opportunity to trigger continuous improvement in service quality to improve organizational performance-primary data from 73 questionnaires, which are the result of customer satisfaction assessment of nuclear mineral technology services. Data analysis used descriptive frequency statistics that provide a typical condition of the diversity of data. The behavioral evaluation results show that service personnel is polite, not selective; all customers have the same position, officers complete services according to the agreed period, officers complete services following service requirements. This research provides evidence that uncertainty in serving customers requires front line employees to take personal initiative to anticipate customer needs, prevent and eliminate potential obstacles in service delivery, and continuously identify new opportunities to improve service quality. (author)

[en] According to the "Act on the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy and Protection against its Hazards" (AtG), the last nuclear power plant in Germany will be shut down in 2022 at the latest. This step represents the central milestone for the nuclear phase-out in Germany. However, even after almost 60 years of commercial nuclear energy use, the safe disposal of the legacy in the form of highly radioactive waste remains unresolved. The final chapter of the nuclear phase-out presents us with special challenges: The highly hazardous waste stored in around 1,900 special containers at the end of electricity production must be kept safely away from the environment for periods that are difficult for us to imagine. The adoption of the amended Site Selection Act (StandAG) in 2017 marked the start of the new search for a final repository site in Germany. The Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal (BASE) exercises legal supervision over the procedure and is responsible for public participation. The procedure is based in particular on five pillars: Scientificity, clear responsibilities, target achievement, participation and democratic legitimacy.

[en] The safety classification of the structure, systems and components (SSCs) of the RSG-GAS reactor is important because it is used as a grading basis in the implementation of a management system for nuclear facilities and activities. The method of identification and safety classification of SSCs currently applied in the RSG-GAS reactor can be biased because they are not based on an analysis of the SSC's safety function and its significance as stipulated in the IAEA SSR-3 requirements for research reactors safety. In order for the safety classification of SSCs for the RSG-GAS reactor to have a clear formal foundation and to meet the requirements of the IAEA SSR-3, it has been proposed to apply the SSCs safety classification method based on the IAEA safety guidelines SSG -30 Safety Classification of Structures, Systems and Components in Nuclear Power Plants^. However, in the proposed method, the determination of the safety category for each function that has been identified is not based on a deterministic analysis of consequences, but is evaluated according to the level of Defense-in-Depth at which the SSC performs its function. Preliminary results from the application of this classification method have shown sufficient consistency and are able to minimize the risk of subjective analysis that can be biased. (author)

[en] This paper presents a conceptual design for a plant-wide autonomous operation system that uses artificial intelligence techniques. The autonomous operation system has the power and ability to perform the control functions needed for the emergency operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP) with reduced operator intervention. This paper discusses the emergency operation and level of automation in an NPP and presents the design requirements for an autonomous emergency operation system (A-EOS). Then, an architecture that consists of several modules is proposed, with descriptions of the functions. Finally, this paper introduces a prototype of the suggested autonomous system that integrates the authors’ previous works

[en] A study has been carried out to assess the role of nuclear security in preventing possible radiological disaster in the aftermath of natural disaster in industrial estate. Cilegon city was chosen to be the location of the study for the fact that it has the largest chemical estate in Indonesia, utilizes 243 radioactive sources, and at the same time has the considerable threat from earthquake and Tsunami. The study was a lessons learned from Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, where natural disaster triggered industrial and nuclear disaster. Qualitative, descriptive and analytical method was used in this study using secondary data obtained from the existing literatures in order to assess the significance of earthquake/Tsunami hazards and to evaluate nuclear security infrastructure and its constraints. The study concludes that nuclear security plays a very important role in preventing radiological disaster following natural disaster in an industrial estate. This study also identified that in this case Indonesia faces two challenges, namely response strategy in the aftermath and sustainability issue. An intensive coordination between the regulator and local disaster management agency with its related stakeholders is then highly recommended as well as regular awareness and training program. (author)

[en] The organization of radiation protection at a research site with furtherfield offices is a great challenge. To achieve the goal of "guaranteeing radiation protection for the employees, the surroundings and the environment" requires the implementation of the radiation protection requirements of 83 nuclear and radiation protection licenses, notifications and notices in numerous monitoring, control and restricted areas.

[en] A central department that takes care of radiation protection? Is that really required? What does steel production has to do with ionizing radiation? We have to explain these questions more often. At first glance, steel production has nothing to do with radioactive materials or ionizing radiation in general. But anyone who has ever seen such a plant will also have noticed that the term "heavy industry" is appropriate for our division and that it places enormous demands on measurement technology due to the wide variety of sometimes very demanding environmental conditions. For some of the many and varied measurement tasks, radiometric measurement technology represents the only solution without alternatives for obtaining precise and reliable results. The processing of our raw materials makes it necessary to also deal with other topics of radiation protection, such as NORM or the detection of radioactive substances. In the following, we will explain which requirements concern radiation protection in our company and how these requirements are implemented.

[en] risk associated with low-dose radiation exposure. However, long-term effects of occupational dose levels (<500 mSv) on the cardiovascular system is still controversial research. This study sought to assess the association between long-term radiation exposure in the catheterization laboratory and endothelial dysfunction by quantification of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and circulating microparticles (MP). We investigated the health effects of radiation on endothelium in cardiologists while performing cardiac catheterization in a hospital setting from 2013 to 2018. CECs were measured in the peripheral blood by an immunomagnetic separation (IMS) technique and Flow cytometry measurement (FCM) was used to quantify MP (Annexin V±FITC) levels in the peripheral blood samples of 44 cardiologists who perform cardiac catheterization and in 20 healthy controls. We found a significant difference in CEC numbers in the peripheral blood of the cardiologists who perform cardiac catheterization in comparison with those of the control samples (112±12 vs 42±5 cells/ml, ρ = 0.004) and no significant difference in the proportion of other blood elements in the peripheral circulation. In addition CEC were enumerated in 26 cardiac catheter trainees who completed their stage for four-months at Al-Basel Hospital for Cardiac Surgery, we demonstrated a significant increase in the level of CEC after the end of the stage compared to their number before the stage (before exposure to gamma radiation) (median, Median = 80 with a range of 35 - 280 versus 53 with a range of 24 - 206 cells / ml blood, ρ = 0.04). In the present study, we did not found a statistical significant relationship between the radiation dose and CEC counts, but the small sample size and lack of adjustment of some factors such as diet and SES could have prevented us from finding a significant association. We compared the level of CEC among workers in the cardiac catheterization according to the number of their working years (i.e. the number of years they were exposed to radiation), and we observed a significant increase in the number of CEC in the blood of cardiac catheterization workers whose service was more than five years compared to those who did not exceed their five-year service period (0.04 Vs 85 ± 15 cells / ml of blood, ρ = 25 ± 129). However, we did not observed a significant difference in the number of MP in the blood of cardiac catheterization workers compared to that of healthy subjects who are not exposed to any type of ionizing radiation ( ρ = 0.859). in conclusion: Long-term radiation exposure in a catheterization laboratory may be associated with endothelial damage. Large population-based cohorts are needed in order to better define whether CECs are a biomarker for cardiovascular diseases. (author)

[en] Super fine-grained graphite is a type of advanced nuclear graphite which was developed for Molten Salt Reactor (MSR). It is necessary to establish a failure assessment method used for nuclear graphite components in MSR. A modified assessment approach based on ASME BPVC-III-5₂017 is presented. The new approach takes a new parameter, KIC, into account and abandons the parameter, grain size, which is unrealistic for super fine-grained graphite as the computation is enormous if we use conventional methods. Three methodologies (KTA 3232, ASME, New approach) were also evaluated by theoretical prediction and experimental verification. The results indicated the new developed code can be used for design and failure assessment of super fine-graphite components and has more extensive applicability.