Australian Capital Territory

Radiation Regulations 2002
Subordinate Law 2002 No 1

The Australian Capital Territory Executive makes the following regulations under the Radiation Act 1983.
Dated 14 February 2002.
Jon Stanhope
Minister
Bill Wood
Minister

Australian Capital Territory

Radiation Regulations 2002
Subordinate Law 2002 No 1
made under the
Radiation Act 1983

    
Contents
	Page
Part 1	Preliminary
	1	Name of regulations	1
	2	Commencement	1
	3	Dictionary	1
	4	Notes 	1
Part 2	Dose limits
	5	Meaning of effective dose for reg 6	2
	6	Effective dose limits	2
	7	Equivalent dose limits	3
Dictionary		4

Part 1	Preliminary
1	Name of regulations
These regulations are the Radiation Regulations 2002.
2	Commencement
These regulations commence on the commencement of the Statute Law Amendment Act 2001 (No 2), schedule 1, part 1.6.
3	Dictionary
The dictionary at the end of these regulations is part of these regulations.
Note 1	The dictionary at the end of these regulations defines certain words and expressions used in these regulations.
Note 2	A definition in the dictionary applies to the entire regulations unless the definition, or another provision of the regulations, provides otherwise or the contrary intention otherwise appears (see Legislation Act 2001, s 155 and s 156 (1)).
4	Notes
A note included in these regulations is explanatory and is not part of these regulations.
Note	See Legislation Act 2001, s 127 (1), (4) and (5) for the legal status of notes.

Part 2	Dose limits
5	Meaning of effective dose for reg 6
	(1)	For regulation 6, a person’s effective dose for a relevant period is the sum of—
	(a)	the effective doses that the person receives, from external exposure, during the relevant period; and
	(b)	the person’s committed effective dose, received from intakes during the relevant period, for the next 50 years.
	(2)	However, if the person is under 18 years old, the committed effective dose must be worked out on the basis of the number of years calculated by subtracting the person’s age, at the time of the calculation, from 70.
	(3)	In this regulation:
relevant period means—
	(a)	for a person subject only to public exposure—1 year; or
	(b)	for a person subject to occupational exposure—5 years.
6	Effective dose limits
	(1)		The effective dose limit for occupational exposure is 20mSv in a year, averaged over 5 consecutive years.
	(2)	However, the effective dose for a person subject to occupational exposure must not, in a year, be more than 50mSv.
	(3)	The effective dose limit for public exposure is 1mSv in a year.
	(4)	The effective dose limit for an unborn child is 1mSv in a year.
Note	An employee who becomes pregnant should advise her employer as soon as practicable.  Appropriate measures may then be taken to control the employee’s exposure, so that doses that may be received by the foetus (during the remainder of the pregnancy), while the employee is at work, are consistent with reg 6 (4): see National standard for limiting occupational exposure to ionising radiation [NOHSC: 1013 (1995)].  The standard was adopted in the ACT as a code of practice under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989, s 87, commencing on 3 January 1996.
	NOHSC means the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission established by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission Act 1985 (Cwlth), s 6.
7	Equivalent dose limits
	(1)	The equivalent dose limit to the lens of the eye is—
	(a)	for occupational exposure—150mSv in a year; and
	(b)	for public exposure—15mSv in a year.
	(2)	The equivalent dose limit to the hands and feet for occupational exposure is 500mSv in a year.
	(3)	The equivalent dose limit to the skin is—
	(a)	for occupational exposure—500mSv in a year; and
	(b)	for public exposure—50mSv in a year.
	(4)	The equivalent dose limit to the skin applies to the average dose received by any 1cm² of skin.

Dictionary
(see reg 3)
committed effective dose means the effective dose that a person is committed to receive from an intake of radioactive material.
Note	See the Recommendations for limiting exposure to ionizing radiation (1995) (Guidance note [NOHSC: 3022 (1995)]) (the recommendations), annex B.
	The recommendations were developed by an expert committee advising standing committees of both the National Health and Medical Research Council (the council) and the NOHSC.  The council adopted the recommendations on 7 June 1995.  The NOHSC endorsed the recommendations as a NOHSC guidance note.
excluded exposure means the component of exposure that arises from natural background radiation.
exposure means the circumstances of being exposed to radiation.
external exposure means exposure to radiation from a source outside the human body.
medical exposure means—
	(a)	the exposure of a person to radiation received as—
	(i)	a patient undergoing medical diagnosis or therapy; or
	(ii)	a volunteer in medical research; or
	(b)	non-occupational exposure received as a consequence of assisting an exposed patient.
occupational exposure means exposure of a person to radiation that happens in the course of the person’s work and that is not excluded exposure.
public exposure means the exposure of a person to radiation that is not occupational or medical exposure.

Endnote
Notification
1	Notified under the Legislation Act 2001 on 15 February 2002.
	(see www.legislation.act.gov.au)

© Australian Capital Territory 2002