PERMANENT MISSION OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES TO THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
FACT SHEET 2014
VIENNA
Environmental Protection from Radioactive Release in the UAE The discharge of radioactive liquid and gaseous effluents due to the routine operation of nuclear facilities can have an environmental impact on humans, animals, plants and sea life. The UAE is committed to the highest standards of nuclear safety in the development of its nuclear energy programme.
Background “With regard to the safety of nuclear facilities, as required by the IAEA Convention on Nuclear Safety, the UAE will implement a comprehensive regime that maintains a high level of safety according to international benchmarks and ensures that all nuclear-related installations are operated in a safe, well-regulated and environmentally sound manner.” UAE Nuclear Policy
The discharge of radioactive liquid and gaseous effluents due to the routine operation of nuclear facilities can have an environmental impact on humans, animals, plants and sea life. ENEC has prepared an Environmental Impact Assessment to quantify these potential impacts. This assessment has been approved by the Environmental Agency-Abu Dhabi. As part of FANR's requirements for operating a nuclear facility, licensees must: Keep releases of radioactive material to unrestricted areas during normal operation of the nuclear facility as low as reasonably achievable as described in the FANR Regulation 11 for Radiation Protection and Pre-Disposal Radioactive Waste Management in Nuclear Facilities; and Ensure that dose limits for the public are respected under FANR Regulation 04 for Radiation dose Limits and Optimisation of Radiation Protection for Nuclear Facilities. FANR’s regulations require licensees to set up appropriate environmental monitoring programmes to ensure compliance.
Permanent Mission of United Arab Emirates to the International Atomic Energy Agency Chimanistrasse 36, A-1190 Vienna, Austria Tel.: + 43 (1) 715 00 28 Fax: + 43 (1) 715 00 28 - 5555 E-mail: general@uae-iaea.org Web: www.uae-iaea.org UAE_IAEA
Regulations The ‘Regulation 04’ of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) stipulates that any radioactive release from a nuclear facility must remain very small so that members of the public living in the area around a nuclear facility receive doses significantly below the annual effective dose limit for the public of 1 mSv.
PERMANENT MISSION OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES TO THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA
Gamma Monitoring Network
Monitoring Environmental Impacts In accordance with FANR Regulation 11 for Radiation Protection and Pre-Disposal Radioactive Waste Management in Nuclear Facilities, FANR’s licensees are required to report radioactive discharges from the nuclear facility. They must also present the results of environmental monitoring programmes to FANR to ensure that potential impacts are properly detected and reviewed. Licensees must additionally participate in an inter-laboratory comparison programme, which provides an independent check of the accuracy and precision of environmental measurements.
FANR is operating an automatic Gamma Monitoring Network with stations installed around the UAE. In 2015, FANR is planning to install stations at the Barakah NPP site. The purpose of this system is to provide early warning rough assessment of the radiological situation in case of a nuclear or radiological emergency. The Gamma Monitoring Network has been set up in a framework of an IAEA Technical Cooperation Project.
PHOTO IAEA
In semi-annual reports, licensees will identify the amount of liquid and airborne radioactive effluents discharged from nuclear facilities and evaluate associated radioactive doses in accordance with the Radiological Effluents Technical Specification (RETS). Licensees must also report environmental radioactivity levels around their nuclear facilities every six months. In order to gather the data for these reports, direct irradiation is typically measured with thermo-luminescent dosimeters and samples are collected from the air, sea water, ground water, drinking water, shoreline sediment, milk, fish, vegetation, invertebrates and other matrixes in the environment that could be impacted by radioactive effluents. The results of this effort are published in the semi-annual reports to validate the RETS. FANR will carry out periodic on-site inspections of each licensee's radioactive effluent control programme and environmental monitoring programme to ensure they comply with FANR’s regulations. FANR has inspectors stationed at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) site who will conduct inspections that are designed to ensure that the licensee effectively controls, monitors and quantifies releases into the environment of radioactive materials in liquid, gaseous and particulate forms. Inspections are also designed to ensure that radiological environmental monitoring programmes are effectively implemented. FANR documents the status of licensee effluent releases and the results of their environmental monitoring and assessment effort in inspection reports.
A FANR autonomus gamma monitoring station installed by the shoreline
Current Status The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 to 4 pre-operational Radiological Environmental Monitoring Programme (REMP) was approved by FANR in December 2013 and is expected to be implemented two years prior to fuel loading. The operational REMP is tentatively scheduled to be submitted by ENEC to FANR along with the BNPP Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR).
www.uae-iaea.org