Last update : September 29, 2016 National competent authoritiesNational competent authorities: The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) is the sole competent authority in matters relating to nuclear safety and radiological protection. It was set up in 1980 (by Law 15/1980, creating the CSN) as an entity under Common Law, independent from the General State Administration, with a legal standing and equity of its own and independent from those of the State. The CSN is a collegiate body formed by a president and four counsellors. Decision-making by the Council takes place within the framework of its plenary sessions (Plenary). The mission of the CSN is to protect the workers, the population and the environment against the harmful effects of ionising radiations, ensuring that the nuclear and radioactive facilities are operated safely by the licensees The CSN, as the competent authority responsible for nuclear safety and radiological protection, intervenes in all the different areas of the regulatory process: the issuing of standards, the granting of authorisations and licences, supervision and control and the enforcement of sanctions. and establishing measures for the prevention and mitigation of radiological emergencies, whatever their origin. The activities of the CSN affect three major groups: the Public Institutions (Parliaments, the Government of the Nation, the regional governments and local corporations), society (the general public and, in particular, the workers professionally involved in the facilities and activities, persons living in the vicinity of the facilities and the personnel of the CSN, as well as the political parties, trade union organisations, nongovernmental organisations involved in environmental protection and sustainable development, the media, professional associations, scientific and professional societies and international organisations), and companies having an interest in the issue (licensees of facilities and activities, manufacturers and suppliers). CSN submits annually to the Parliament reports on its activities and on the situation in Spain in the fields of nuclear safety, occupational exposure and exposure of the general population as well as on the radioactive situation in the environment. CSN works in close co-operation with the Central Government, some ministries and Autotomous Comunities regarding radiological protection of workers, to ensure the fulfillment of certain tasks assigned to CSN, and the necessary exchange of information between different organizations. A written agreement exists between the CSN and the Energy, Environmental and Technological Research Centre (CIEMAT) for various aspects of scientific and technological support in the field of radiation protection and dosimetry. The CSN maintains a Research Plan of R&D considering nuclear safety and radiological protection. The R&D projects are developed in collaboration with national organizations such as CIEMAT, CEDEX, ENRESA and ENUSA, universities, hospitals, and other institutions. National legislative frameworkMain texts of the national regulation: Law 15/1980, of April 22nd, creating the Nuclear Safety Council, reformed by Law 33/2007 of November 7th. Royal Decree 1836/1999 , of December 3rd, approving the Regulation on Nuclear and Radioactive Facilities. Royal Decree 783/2001 , of July 6th, approving the Regulation on the Protection of Health against Ionizing Radiations (Official State Gazette 26/07/2001). The most important statements that have to be considered are the following: Individual dosimetry, be it external or internal, shall be carried out by the Personal Dosimetry Services expressly authorized to do so by the Nuclear Safety Council. It shall be mandatory to record all the doses received during the working life of the exposed workers in an individual dosimetry record, that shall be kept, duly updated, and which shall at all times be at the worker's disposal. To these effects, it shall also be obligatory to record, conserve and maintain the following documents at the worker's disposal: a) In case of accidental and emergency exposures, the reports regarding the circumstances and the measures adopted. b) The results of the working area monitoring that may have been used to estimate the individual doses. In the corresponding dosimetry record for the workers within Category A, the following shall be registered: the monthly doses, the accumulated doses in every official year, and the accumulated doses in every period of five consecutive official years. In the case of workers within Category B, the annual doses, determined or estimated, shall be included. Those workers who are exposed in more than one activity or facility are obliged to inform of this circumstance to the Head of the Radiation Protection Service or Radiation Protection Technical Unit, or in their absence to the Supervisor or person who has been entrusted with the performance of the radiation protection functions in each one of the centers in which they work, to ensure that in each one of these centers the corresponding individual dosimetry record is kept, updated and complete. To this end, the worker must communicate in each activity the dosimetry results that are provided in the other activities. In case of a change of employer, the worker must provide a certified copy of the corresponding dosimetry record to the title-holder of the new destination The dosimetry record of the exposed workers, the documents corresponding to the dose evaluation and the measures taken by the monitoring teams, and the reports relating to the circumstances and adopted measures, in cases of accidental or emergency exposure, must be filed by the title-holder of the practice, until that time when the worker has, or would have, reached seventy-five years of age, and never for a period of less than thirty years, starting from the date the worker ceases to work in the activities that qualified the worker as an exposed worker. In case the exposed worker should resign from the position held, the title-holder of the practice must provide the worker with a certified copy of the dosimetry record. Once the practices regulated terminate operations definitively, the title-holders of these must hand over to the Nuclear Safety Council the files referred to at the beginning of this paragraph. In the case of external workers, the external company on whom the worker depends shall have the responsibility to comply with the afore-established requisites. Royal Decree 413/1997 of March 21st, on the operational protection of off-site workers running the risk of exposure to ionizing radiations due to their intervening in the controlled zone (Official State Gazette 16/04/1997). Instruction IS-01 of the CSN, of the 31st of May 2001, which defines the format and content of the individual radiological monitoring document (Radiological Passport) regulated in Royal Decree 413/1997 (Official State Gazette 6/08/2001). The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) issues official documents (resolutions and guidelines) which treat specific problems and details of the general regulations in the field of radiation protection and nuclear safety. Concerning monitoring and registration of the occupationally exposed workers, the following documents of CSN have been issued: Guideline Nº 7.1 ‘Technical-Administrative Requirements for the Personnel Dosimetry Services’. Resolution of 28 July 1994 on the handling of files with personal data used by CSN (especially by the National Dose Registry (BDN). Resolution of 16 July 1997 of the CSN on the establishment of register of the outside undertakings. Provisions more stringent than the Directive EURATOM: No National dose registerNational body responsible of national statistics: The CSN created in 1985 the National Dose Registry (BDN), in order to ensure the availability of individual records at any time. The main objectives of the BDN are: To provide a safe and secure long-term dose record keeping, redundant to that required to the licensee. To facilitate a prompt identification of any exceeding dose limit. To provide data to carry out studies on exposure trends, in order to identify potential areas of ALARA concern. To provide support to carry out epidemiological studies involving monitored workers. Information included in each data record The information included in each data record is composed by: Personal data: The unique personal identification is assured by the use of National Identification Document Number, full name, first name, maiden name, date of birth, sex, type of work etc. Worker’s personal data and job characterization: BDN includes information about the work sector, the specific area within that sector, and, moreover, the job description, as represented in the table included at the end of this report. Dose Data: The information recorded consists of: monitoring period, external whole body doses (in terms of Hp (10) and Hp (0.07)), and “other doses” (dose from internal exposure, extremity dose, abdominal dose). The recording level for external exposure is 0.10 mSv per month; in the case of internal exposure the recording and investigation level is 1 mSv per year. The Dosimetry Service (DS) shall assign a notional dose to a monitored worker in the event the dosimetry information is lost or the routine personal dosimeter is not returned for processing after more than three months (the DS shall mark by special label that this is not measured dose value, when sending the information to the BDN). Dose data submission by dosimetry services The content of the reported information and the format of the data were prescribed by CSN in the moment BDN was originally created. Every month, dosimetry services (DS) must send telematicly the dose records by digital signature to BDN, through the CSN’s website. Data protection and confidentiality According to Spanish regulations on personal data protection (law 15/1999), dose records must be regarded as health related information, thus, maximum level of confidentiality. However, there are no limitations for the use of the data from BDN in anonymous form for research purposes. But also, according to the regulations on personal data protection, the workers must have access to their personal data included in the database. This access is provided through the CSN web page, and requires the electronic certificate of the worker’s identity. The system displays a “note” to the worker, clarifying some issues about the information contained in the BDN, especially about the fact that the data contained in the BDN may not exactly correspond to those included in the worker’s individual dosimetry record. This could be the case if: They are Category-B workers, whose doses are assessed through area dosimetry. Any incidence may have caused a different dose than that obtained through the dosimeter read-out. In both circumstances, the responsible for radiation protection of the facility, based on a previously established, justified and documented protocol, has the capacity to officially assign other dose to the worker. Types of recorded data: Passive dosimetryInternal dosimetry: commited doses onlyNotional dosesData sender to the register: All dosimetry servicesDoses received in another country: NoDirect access to the register data: WorkersAuthoritiesOther access to the register data: WorkersAuthorities Approved dosimetry servicesApproval of dosimetry services: Individual dosimetry, be it external or internal, shall be carried out by the Personal Dosimetry Services expressly authorized to do so by the Nuclear Safety Council. Subject of approval is the Dosimetry Service as a whole, including dose assessment methods, used dosimeters, evaluation procedure, dosimeters storage, calibration facilities, record keeping, qualification of the staff, etc. A special guideline of the CSN (No 7.1) contains detailed technical and administrative requirements for the approval of Dosimetry Services (DS). The guideline is structured in several parts treating separately the requirement for the DS for external dosimetry and for internal dosimetry as well as broad information about concepts, legislative documents and guides in this field. Approved dosimetry services: As to December 2014, there were 21 approved Dosimetry Services to carry out dose assessment for external exposure (all of them using TL Dosimetry) and 9 for internal exposure (2 of wich use in vitro techniques as well as the in vivo monitoring techniques). Individual monitoring services: N/A Intercomparison measurement programs: YesThe CSN organizes every five years an intercomparison exercise in which every approved dosimetry service must participate. External exposureReference dosimetry: Passive dosimetryCategory B workers: YesPositioning of the dosemeter: Under the lead apronDuration of the monitoring: One month Description of the personal whole body dosemetersWhole body dosimetry: TLDRPLOSLSSNTDBubbledetectorsOthers(precise which one)Recording level(mSv) Photon or photon/electronHp(10)Y0.10 Photon or photon/electronHp(0.07)Y0.10 Description of the personal extremity dosemeters (ring)Extremity dosemeter (ring): TLDOthers(precise which one)Recording level(mSv) Photon/electronHp(0.07)Y0.10 Description of the personal extremity dosemeters (wrist)Extremity dosemeter (wrist): TLDOthers(precise which one)Recording level(mSv) Photon/electronHp(0.07)Y0.10 Internal exposure monitoringIn vivo measurements: Whole body counting is the most frequent used method for measurement of incorporated radioactive materials. Every nuclear power plant has its own whole body counter (WBC). One of the Internal Individual Monitoring Services authorized by the CSN has two mobile units, equipped with WBC, providing service to the nuclear power plants and other nuclear fuel cycle facilities throughout the national territory, as well as taking part in the Radiological Emergency Group of the CSN for the nuclear and radiological emergencies. Radiotoxicological analysis: There are two Individual Monitoring Services authorized by the CSN to carry out internal dosimetry through in vitro measurements. Internal commited dose assessment: The Individual Monitoring Services authorized by the CSN, according to the Regulatory Guide nº. 7.1. Recording level for internal commited dose: 1 mSv, except for those radionuclides for which, due to their physico-chemical or biological properties, the Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) or Detection Limit (DL) associated to their measurement technique, may arise this value to the aforementioned MDA/DL. Radon exposureMonitoring radon exposure: To monitor exposure to radon, long-term measurements are required using electrets or nuclear track detectors. If radon concentrations exceed five times the reference level, the use of personal dosimeters is recommended
