Ukraine continues EU integration with new radiation safety standards

Ukraine introduced new standards following the law of the European Union to protect people from the effects of ionizing radiation.

Rubryka reports that this decision was adopted at a session of the parliament on August 23, citing the press service of the Ministry of Economy.

What is the problem?

Many enterprises on the territory of Ukraine can pose both a radiation and chemical hazard in the event of an emergency. The threat can occur for the population living both near the facility and at a distance. Nuclear power plants are radiation-hazardous facilities, and chemical industry enterprises are chemically hazardous. There is also a great danger of the Russian forces using weapons of mass destruction in its war against Ukraine.

What is the solution?

The changes made to the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Humans from the Effects of Ionizing Radiation" introduces three exposure situations (planned, existing, and emergency) and establishes basic dose limits of effective and equivalent dose for personnel and population and more. It also relates to the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, central executive authorities, local executive authorities, and the National Commission for Radiation Protection of the Population of Ukraine.

How does it work?

"According to the Association Agreement, Ukraine cooperates with the European Union in the field of nuclear safety. The adopted European integration law will be another step towards bringing Ukrainian legislation to European legislation. It introduces European standards for protecting people from the effects of ionizing radiation in accordance with international safety standards,"  said Oleksii Sobolev, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

According to him, the new system will increase the level of radiation protection of personnel and the population in all situations. Adopting the law will make it possible to implement the Interdepartmental Working Group on Deregulation recommendations to cancel regulatory instruments related to the use of radionuclide sources and sources of ionizing radiation, which are under the care of the Ministry of Health.

Such recommendations were supported at the meeting of the Interagency Working Group (IWG) on deregulation on March 16, 2023. As reported, the IWG reviewed more than 1,000 instruments in total.

Rubryka reported that the State Border Service implements the NATO project on psychological support of the Ukrainian military.