Legislation of Radiological Protection in Portugal and Exposure to Radioactive Sources of Natural Origin - The Case of Exposure to Radon in Thermal Establishments

Abstract

The Directive 2013/59/Euratom was transposed into Portuguese law by the Decree-Law 108/2018 of 3 December, allowing to the national legislative framework be adjusted to the European Union's security obligations with regard to the protection of workers against the exposure to ionizing radiation. The objective of this article is to reflect on this new legislative framework and to identify the legal impositions in what concerns to the occupational exposure to radon in thermal establishments. The adopted methodology focus on the discussion of pertinent issues which are not always well understood in the way how to be implemented in practice. These are related to the type of exposure applied to occupational exposure to radon in thermal establishments; how to address the protection strategy for managing the defined exposure situation in this particular occupational environment; identify legal imperatives in the scope of protection of exposed workers in thermal establishments in addition to the exposure to radon in workplaces, homes and other public buildings in sensitive regions, meaning with geologic potential for high radon concentration values. In the new legislative framework, the occupational exposure to radon in thermal establishments is identified as an "existing exposure situation" implying that the annual effective dose is less than 6 mSv but if the dose exceeds 6 mSv per year the exposure should be handled as a "planned exposure situation". In this case, the responsible management for the thermal establishments should take some measures, including the implementation of a Radiological Protection Program.