The basis for the review of technical issues is the IAEA safety standards, which reflect an international consensus on what constitutes a high level of safety for protecting people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation. They are issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series, which has three categories:
- Safety Fundamentals
- Safety Requirements
- Safety Guides
The safety standards include the Safety Fundamentals, the applicable General Safety Requirements, with a graded approach to all facilities and activities, complemented by a set of Specific Safety Requirements relating to facilities and activities. The Safety Requirements are implemented through a corresponding set of general and specific Safety Guides.
Safety Fundamentals
The Safety Fundamentals SF-1 establishes the fundamental safety objective and principles of protection and safety and provides the basis for the safety requirements.
Safety Requirements
An integrated and consistent set of Safety Requirements establish the requirements that should be met to ensure the protection of people and the environment, both now and in the future. The requirements are governed by the objective and principles of the Safety Fundamentals. If the requirements are not met, measures should be taken to reach or restore the required level of safety. The format and style of the requirements facilitate their use for the establishment, in a harmonized manner, of a national regulatory framework. The safety requirements use ‘shall’ with statements of associated conditions to be met.
Safety Guides
Safety Guides provide recommendations and guidance on how to comply with the safety requirements, indicating an international consensus that it is necessary to take the measures recommended (or equivalent alternative measures). The Safety Guides present international good practices, and increasingly reflect best practices, to help users striving to achieve high levels of safety. The recommendations provided in Safety Guides are expressed as ‘should’ statements.
