Establishing a Sustainable Regulatory Framework for the Security of Radioactive Sources Through Harmonization with a Safety Regulatory Framework

In order to establish and maintain sustainable nuclear security regulatory infrastructures for radioactive sources, it is important for states to develop nuclear security regulations with regulatory requirements and relevant criteria for security,
which are consistent and well-integrated with those for radiation safety. In establishing national regulations, experts worldwide follow the international recommendations on safety and security of radioactive sources published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Within IAEA publications on the safety and security of radioactive sources, some international recommendations are identical or very similar for both safety and security (for example, the requirement for the establishment of a national registry of radioactive sources). However, some other international recommendations are unique to the security area, such as the recommendation to examine the trustworthiness of employees, or to the safety area, such as the need to establish public exposure controls. Additionally, many international recommendations fall somewhere in between, such as the need for effective authorization of facilities and activities, a regulatory inspection and enforcement regime, and the graded approach to establish and apply regulatory requirements. This paper examines how the IAEA international recommendations for establishing regulatory frameworks for safety and security relate to one another.