developed for purposes of public information.)
II.1. Radioactive sources are used throughout the world for a wide variety of beneficial purposes in industry, medicine, agriculture, research and education.
When such sources are safely managed and securely protected, the risks to workers and the public are kept acceptably low and the benefits will outweigh any associated hazards.
II.2. If a radioactive source were to become separated from the system of control or the radioactive material from the source were to become dispersed as a result of an accident or a malevolent act, people could be exposed to radiation at dangerous levels. For the purposes of this Safety Guide, and in accordance with the Safety Requirements for emergency preparedness and response [25] and the Code of Conduct [19], a radioactive source is considered dangerous if its misuse could be life threatening or could cause a permanent injury that would reduce the quality of life of the person exposed. Possible permanent injuries include burns requiring surgery and debilitating injuries to the hands. Temporary injuries such as reddening and irritation of the skin or temporary changes to the composition of the blood are not considered dangerous. The extent of any such injuries will depend on many factors, including: the activity of the radioactive source; how close a person is to the source and for how long; whether the source is shielded; and whether or not its radioactive material has been dispersed, thus leading to contamination of the skin or inhalation or ingestion. For the purposes of categorization, any possible harm from delayed effects of radiation — such as radiation induced cancer developing later in life in any persons who are exposed — is treated as a secondary consideration to the paramount need to protect against the dangerous consequences described above.
II.3. The categorization shown in Table 3 provides a ranking of radioactive sources in terms of their potential to cause early harmful health effects if the source is not safely managed or securely protected. Sources are classified into five categories: Category 1 sources are potentially the most dangerous and Category 5 sources are the most unlikely to be dangerous. In Table 3, two types of risk are considered: the risk in handling or being close to a source, and the risk associated with radioactive material being dispersed from a source by fire or explosion. A third type of risk arises from the potential for a source to
contaminate a public water supply. It would be highly unlikely for a Category 1 source to contaminate a public water supply to dangerous levels, even if the radioactive material were highly soluble in water. It would be virtually impossible for a source in Category 2, 3, 4 or 5 to contaminate a public water supply to dangerous levels.
TABLE 3. PLAIN LANGUAGE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CATEGORIES Category of sourceRisk in being close to an individual sourceRisk in the event that the radioactive material in the source is dispersed by fire or explosion 1Extremely dangerous to the person: This source, if not safely managed or securely protected, would be likely to cause permanent injury to a person who handled it or who was otherwise in contact with it for more than a few minutes. It would probably be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period in the range of a few minutes to an hour.
This amount of radioactive material, if dispersed, could possibly — although it would be unlikely — permanently injure or be life threatening to persons in the immediate vicinity. There would be little or no risk of immediate health effects to persons beyond a few hundred metres away, but contaminated areas would need to be cleaned up in accordance with international standards. For large sources the area to be cleaned up could be a square kilometre or more.a 2Very dangerous to the person: This source, if not safely managed or securely protected, could cause permanent injury to a person who handled it or who was otherwise in contact with it for a short time (minutes to hours). It could possibly be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period of hours to days.
This amount of radioactive material, if dispersed, could possibly – although it would be very unlikely — permanently injure or be life threatening to persons in the immediate vicinity. There would be little or no risk of immediate health effects to persons beyond a hundred metres or so away, but contaminated areas would need to be cleaned up in accordance with international standards. The area to be cleaned up would probably not exceed a square kilometre.a 3Dangerous to the person: This source, if not safely managed or securely protected, could cause permanent injury to a person who handled it or who was otherwise in contact with it for some hours. It could possibly — although it would be unlikely — be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period of days to weeks.
This amount of radioactive material, if dispersed, could possibly – although it would be extremely unlikely — permanently injure or be life threatening to persons in the immediate vicinity. There would be little or no risk of immediate health effects to persons beyond a few metres away, but contaminated areas would need to be cleaned up in accordance with international standards. The area to be cleaned up would probably not exceed a small fraction of a square kilometre.a
4Unlikely to be dangerous to the person: It is very unlikely that anyone would be permanently injured by this source. However, this amount of unshielded radioactive material, if not safely managed or securely protected, could possibly — although it would be unlikely — temporarily injure someone who handled it or who was otherwise in contact with it for many hours, or who was close to it for a period of many weeks.
This amount of radioactive material, if dispersed, could not permanently injure persons.b 5Most unlikely to be dangerous to the person: No one could be permanently injured by this source.bThis amount of radioactive material, if dispersed, could not permanently injure anyone.b a The size of the area to be cleaned up would depend on many factors (including the activity, the radionuclide, how it was dispersed and the weather). bPossible delayed health effects are not taken into account in this statement (see para. II.2).
TABLE 3. PLAIN LANGUAGE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CATEGORIES (cont.) Category of sourceRisk in being close to an individual sourceRisk in the event that the radioactive material in the source is dispersed by fire or explosion
BLANK
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Annex I
RATIONALE AND METHOD FOR THE CATEGORIZATION