Radiation protection is improved

The Swiss radiation protection legislation regulates the protection of the general public, patients and persons at the workplace against hazards from artificial and natural ionizing radiation. This is supplemented by the protection of the environment from radioactivity. The revision adapts the legislation to new scientific findings, technical developments and international guidelines.

The focus is on the following adjustments:

In order to avoid unjustified medical examinations and treatments with radiation and to minimize the exposure of patients, clinical audits are introduced. These assessments take place in medical areas where ionizing radiation is used, in hospitals or X-ray institutes.

In occupational exposure, the dose limit for the lens of the eye is lowered to prevent cataracts. This applies particularly to medical personnel who work with X-rays. Increasingly, natural sources of radiation are also to be taken into account. This applies to workplaces that are heavily contaminated with radon due to environmental factors (e.g., in waterworks or tunnel construction), and industries that work with naturally occurring radioactive materials (e.g., in the industrial use of blasting sand). Airline personnel are also now considered occupationally exposed to radiation. For pilots and cabin crew, the radiation doses must therefore be calculated individually.

The reference value for the natural radioactive gas radon in living and recreation rooms is lowered. A reference value of 300 becquerels per cubic meter now applies. This means that throughout Switzerland, greater attention must be paid to radon exposure during construction. The new reference value is to be observed above all in new buildings and renovations.

The exemption limits in the Radiation Protection Ordinance are adapted to those of the European directives. The exemption limits define the activity below which a radioactive substance is considered harmless. Harmonization of these values with the EU will avoid problems in the cross-border movement of goods.

Increasing attention should also be paid to illegal or accidentally handled radioactive sources. For example, contaminated scrap metal can be unintentionally processed during metal recycling. Waste incineration plants and companies that process metal must therefore in future use suitable procedures to monitor that no such so-called orphan radioactive sources enter the processing operation.

New provisions are introduced for dealing with radioactive contaminated sites from previous activities. These include, in particular, measurements and remediation of contaminated sites. A current example of this is the contamination by radium resulting from home work for the watch industry in the Jura Arc in the 1960s.
The hearing will last until mid-February 2016.