Directive 2003/122 - Control of high-activity sealed radioactive sources and orphan sources - Main contents

official title

 

Legal instrument	Directive
Number legal act	Directive 2003/122
Original proposal	COM(2003)18
CELEX number i	32003L0122

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Council Directive 2003/122/Euratom of 22 December 2003 on the control of high-activity sealed radioactive sources and orphan sources

Official Journal L 346 , 31/12/2003 P. 0057 - 0064

Council Directive 2003/122/Euratom

of 22 December 2003

on the control of high-activity sealed radioactive sources and orphan sources

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Articles 31(2) and 32 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, drawn up after obtaining the opinion of a group of persons appointed by the Scientific and Technical Committee from among scientific experts in the Member States, in accordance with Article 31 of the Treaty,

After consulting the European Economic and Social Committee,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(1),

Whereas:

• (1) 

  Article 30 of the Treaty requires basic standards to be laid down within the Community for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation.

• (2) 

  Council Directive 96/29/Euratom of 13 May 1996 laying down basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation(2), continues the line of directives laying down basic safety standards since 1959.

• (3) 

  Article 4(1)(e) of Directive 96/29/Euratom requires prior authorisation for, amongst other practices, the use of radioactive sources for industrial radiography or processing of products or research or the exposure of persons for medical treatment. It is appropriate to extend this requirement to all practices involving high-activity radioactive sources in order further to reduce the likelihood of accidents involving such sources.

• (4) 

  Prior to authorisation, adequate arrangements and provision for the safe management of sources should exist.

• (5) 

  The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issues regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material that include activity limits for the requirements of the regulations, which should provide an appropriate basis for defining high-activity sealed radioactive sources within the scope of this Directive(3).

• (6) 

  In Directive 96/29/Euratom exemption values were laid down for the reporting of a practice to the authorities. These values were defined in that Directive on the basis of a negligible level of risk. As the requirements of this Directive should not put an administrative burden on the holders of small sources that is not commensurate with the possible health detriment, the definition of high activity radioactive sources should not be extended to the exemption levels of Directive 96/29/Euratom.

• (7) 

  Shipments of sealed sources between Member States are subject to the procedure established by Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1493/93 of 8 June 1993 on shipments of radioactive substances between Member States(4).

• (8) 

  Although the legal requirements deriving from existing legislation at Community and at national level ensure basic protection, high-activity sources still imply considerable potential risks for human health and for the environment and therefore need to be subject to a strict control from the time they are manufactured to the time they are placed in a recognised installation for their long-term storage or disposal.

• (9) 

  Prevention of radiological accidents and injuries requires the location of each high-activity source to be known, recorded and verified from the time the source is manufactured or imported into the Community to the time it is placed in a recognised installation for its long-term storage or disposal or it is exported from the Community. Changes in the situation of a high-activity source, e.g. its location or use,...

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