European RP Regulation Letter of Support

BNMS offer support for a  proposal for a project to support a new European Metrology Network on Reliable Radiation Protection Regulation

Currently, radiation protection regulation is defined by the Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM. The EURATOM Directive sets out basic safety standards for protection against exposure to ionising radiation, for European citizens, workers and the environment. Key measurements in the EURATOM Directive include legal dose assessments, exposure limits and activity concentrations. However, ionising radiation is consistently being improved and developed with new technologies such as pulsed fields, therefore regulation and its associated measurements need to be reliably updated. There are a number of existing networks across Europe that provide support for aspects of radiation protection, however, none of these can currently cover the full scope of radiation protection needs. To address this, a sustainable, joint effort from EU member states is needed in order to set up and maintain reliable quality assurance for radiation protection regulation. The European Network should ensure access to reliable radiation protection metrology, coordinate the provision of services and support the development of new reference fields in order to underpin legal requirements.

With regards to Brexit, it is our view that the metrology needs of the UK will still be in common to those of Europe, even if our regulations begin to diverge. Therefore UK participation in the proposed Network is considered important and valuable regardless of the outcome of Brexit.

BNMS have written to the coordinator of the initiative to offer their support.

Link to letter