Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Brazil (Ratification: 1966)

I. The Committee notes the information supplied in the Government's latest report. The Committee would refer the Government to its general observation of 1992 under this Convention which sets forth the latest recommendations made by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) concerning exposure to ionizing radiations (Publication No. 60 of 1990) and requests the Government to provide further information on the following points.

1. The Committee would recall that by virtue of Article 3, paragraph 1, and Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention all appropriate steps shall be taken to ensure effective protection of workers against ionizing radiations and to review maximum permissible doses of ionizing radiations in the light of current knowledge. The Committee notes that the dose limits established by the Government in Resolution No. 6/73 of the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) correspond to the previous dose limits recommended by the ICRP in 1977 (Publication No. 26). The latest ICRP recommendations set a revised limit for the annual effective dose equivalent for workers who are directly engaged in radiation work at 20 mSv per year, averaged over five years (e.g. a maximum of 100 mSv in five years) but not to exceed 50 mSv in any single year. The Committee therefore requests the Government to review Resolution No. 6/73 and the Basic Guidelines concerning Radiation Protection (CNEN Standard NE 3.01) (Basic Guidelines) and to indicate the steps taken or envisaged to ensure the effective protection of workers, as regards their health and safety, by revising the annual effective dose equivalent in the light of current knowledge.

2. Article 8. The Committee notes that under section 1 of Resolution No. 6 a worker is defined as any adult individual who could be exposed either regularly or occasionally to ionizing radiation in the course or as a consequence of his or her work. Under Article 8 of the Convention, appropriate levels of exposure are to be fixed for workers who are not directly engaged in radiation work, but who remain or pass where they may be exposed to ionizing radiations or radioactive substances. In this regard, the Committee would refer the Government to paragraph 14 which indicates that the dose limits for non-radiation workers should be equivalent to those set for members of the general public (1 mSv per year averaged over any five consecutive years). The International Commission on Radiological Protection has also set separate annual dose equivalent limits for the lens of the eye of 15 mSv and for the skin, 50 mSv. The Government is requested to review and revise the dose limits for members of the public set forth in Resolution No. 6/73 in the light of the latest ICRP Recommendations and to indicate the measures taken to ensure that workers not directly engaged in radiation work are only exposed to doses of radiation equivalent to those permissible for members of the public.

II. The Committee notes that section 13 of Portaria No. 001 of 8 January 1982 concerning standards for occupational safety and health in nuclear installations provides for general measures to be taken in the event of an emergency and Annex II sets forth instructions for the notification of accidents involving ionizing radiations. The Committee further notes that section 5.2.4 of the Basic Guidelines of July 1988 provide that any emergency work involving exposure to 100 mSv or more shall be voluntary. The Committee would refer the Government to paragraphs 16 to 27 of its general observation of 1992 concerning the limitation of occupational exposure during and after an emergency. In this regard, the Government is requested to indicate the steps taken or envisaged with respect to the protection against accidents and emergencies raised in paragraph 35(c) of the conclusions to the 1992 general observation and, in particular, subparagraph (iii) concerning the strict definition of circumstances in which exceptional exposure of workers is to be allowed.

III. Finally, the Committee would draw the Government's attention to paragraphs 28 to 34 and requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged concerning the provision of alternative employment for workers having accumulated an effective dose beyond which detriment considered unacceptable would occur.

[The Government is requested to report in detail for the period ending 30 June 1993.]