News Archive

27 April 2023

Reviewers Needed for International Standards on Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Technologies, and Radiological Protection

Jim F. Herrold, CHP, RRPT¹

The scope of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 85 (ISO/TC 85) is "Standardization in the field of peaceful applications of nuclear energy, nuclear technologies and in the field of the protection of individuals and the environment against all sources of ionising radiations."²

TC 85 Subcommittee 2 (ISO/TC 85/SC 2) develops "standardization in the field of the protection of individuals (workers, patients, members of the public) and the environment against all sources of ionizing radiations in planned, existing or emergency exposure situations linked to nuclear activities, medical activities, industrial activities, research activities and natural radiation sources."³

In order for ISO standards to remain relevant they must undergo a systematic review every five years. New systematic review ballots are usually circulated every three months to designated representatives of participating countries, who in turn solicit experts to review the documents and reach a consensus vote on whether they should be confirmed, updated, or withdrawn.

The following standards from ISO/TC 85 are currently under systematic review. Search for abstracts of the standards on the ISO website ISO/TC 85 page.

• ISO/ASTM/SR 51261:2013 (Ed 2, vers 2) - Practice for Calibration of Routine Dosimetry Systems for Radiation Processing
• ISO/ASTM/SR 51702:2013 (Ed 3, vers 2) - Practice for Dosimetry in a Gamma Facility for Radiation Processing
• ISO/ASTM/SR 52116:2013 (Ed 2, vers 2) - Practice for Dosimetry for a Self-Contained Dry-Storage Gamma Irradiator

The following standards from ISO/TC 85/SC are also under systematic review. Abstracts for SC 2 standards can be found on the ISO website ISO/TC 85/SC page. 

• ISO/SR 9404-1:1991 (vers 6) - Enclosures for Protection Against Ionizing Radiation — Lead Shielding Units for 150 mm, 200 mm and 250 mm Thick Walls — Part 1: Chevron Units of 150 mm and 200 mm Thickness
• ISO/SR 11665-7:2012 (vers 2) - Measurement of Radioactivity in the Environment — Air: Radon-222 — Part 7: Accumulation Method for Estimating Surface Exhalation Rate
• ISO/SR 14152:2001 (vers 4) - Neutron Radiation Protection Shielding — Design Principles and Considerations for the Choice of Appropriate Materials
• ISO/SR 15080:2001 (vers 4) - Nuclear Facilities — Ventilation Penetrations for Shielded Enclosures
• ISO/SR 29661:2012 (vers 2) - Reference Radiation Fields for Radiation Protection — Definitions and Fundamental Concepts

If you want to review any of these standards, contact Jim Herrold to receive a copy of the standard and the systematic review/commenting forms. All votes must be returned via email to Herrold by 23 August 2023 to be submitted through ANSI by the September deadline.

Better yet, come to the special session of the Health Physics Society Standards Committee (HPSSC) on Tuesday, 25 July, at the 68th HPS Annual Meeting to learn more about HPS organizational representation to ISO/TC 85, as well as HPS development of ANSI N13 and ANSI N43 standards. Contact HPSSC Chair Antonio Triventi for details.