THE REVISION OF THE NEW INTERNATIONAL BASIC SAFETY STANDARDS AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE IAEA REGULATIONS FOR THE SAFE TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

The last version of the “International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources” (BSS), IAEA Safety Series No. 115, was incorporated into the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, Edition 1996. The main changes which were implemented into the transport regulations at that time refer to the revised A1 and A2 values and new radionuclide specific exemption values. Within the IAEA in cooperation with other international organisations (WHO, NEA, UNEP, PAHO, EC and ILO) a new draft of BSS as DS 379 was developed based on the recommendation of the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) No.103. It is foreseen, that the work for the new BSS is finished in 2010. Afterwards the requirements of the new BSS shall be incorporated into national and international rules and orders in the radiation protection field as well as into the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material. The paper describes these changes coming from the latest draft of BSS which will have an effect on the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material TS-R-1. In particular the new exemptions values are being discussed with the focus on keeping them harmonized with the exemption values in TS-R-1.