Radiation Protection Regulations (SOR/2000-203)

Collection of Personal Information

9 If a licensee collects personal information, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, that may be required to be disclosed to the Commission, another government institution, as defined in that section, or a licensed dosimetry service, the licensee must inform the person to whom the information relates of the purpose for which it is being collected.

Nuclear Energy Workers

10 Every nuclear energy worker shall, on request by the licensee, inform the licensee of the worker’s

• (a) given names, surname and any previous surname;

• (b) Social Insurance Number;

• (c) the worker’s gender;

• (d) date, province and country of birth; and

• (e) dose record for the current one-year and five-year dosimetry periods.

Pregnant and Breastfeeding Nuclear Energy Workers

• 11 (1) On being informed by a female nuclear energy worker, in writing, that she is pregnant, the licensee must, in order to comply with section 13, make any accommodation that will not result in costs or business inconvenience constituting undue hardship to the licensee.

• (2) On being informed by a female nuclear energy worker, in writing, that she is breastfeeding an infant, the licensee must, in order to limit intakes of nuclear substances by the worker, make any accommodation to the working conditions that will not result in costs or business inconvenience constituting undue hardship to the licensee.

Radiation Dose Limits

Interpretation

• 12 (1) [Repealed, SOR/2020-237, s. 13]

• (2) For the purposes of sections 13 and 14, doses of radiation include those received from X-rays or other man-made sources of radiation.

Effective Dose Limits

• 13 (1) Every licensee must ensure that the effective dose received by and committed to a person described in column 1 of the table to this subsection, during the period set out in column 2, does not exceed the effective dose set out in column 3.

  	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
  Item	Person	Period	Effective Dose (mSv)
  1	Nuclear energy worker, including a female nuclear energy worker who is breastfeeding and a female nuclear energy worker who is pregnant but who has not yet informed the licensee in writing that she is pregnant	(a) One-year dosimetry period	50
  		(b) Five-year dosimetry period	100
  2	Pregnant nuclear energy worker who has informed the licensee in writing that she is pregnant	Balance of the pregnancy starting from the date on which the licensee has been informed of the pregnancy	4
  3	Person who is not a nuclear energy worker	One calendar year	1

• (2) [Repealed, SOR/2020-237, s. 14]

• (3) [Repealed, SOR/2020-237, s. 14]

• (4) [Repealed, SOR/2020-237, s. 14]

• (5) For the purpose of subsection (1), where the end of a dosimeter-wearing period or a bioassay-sampling period does not coincide with the end of a dosimetry period set out in column 2 of the table to that subsection, the licensee may extend or reduce the dosimetry period to a maximum of two weeks so that the end of the dosimetry period coincides with the end of the dosimeter-wearing period or biossay-sampling period, as the case may be.

Equivalent Dose Limits

• 14 (1) Every licensee must ensure that the equivalent dose received by and committed to an organ or tissue set out in column 1 of the table to this subsection, of a person described in column 2, during the period set out in column 3, does not exceed the equivalent dose set out in column 4.

  	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
  Item	Organ or Tissue	Person	Period	Equivalent Dose (mSv)
  1	Lens of an eye	(a) Nuclear energy worker	One-year dosimetry period	50
  		(b) Any other person	One calendar year	15
  2	Skin	(a) Nuclear energy worker	One-year dosimetry period	500
  		(b) Any other person	One calendar year	50
  3	Hands and feet	(a) Nuclear energy worker	One-year dosimetry period	500
  		(b) Any other person	One calendar year	50

• (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), where a dosimeter-wearing period or a bioassay-sampling period extends beyond the end of a dosimetry period set out in column 3 of the table to that subsection, the period is extended to the end of the dosimeter-wearing or bioassay-sampling period or by two weeks, whichever extension is shorter.

• (3) When skin is unevenly irradiated, the equivalent dose received by the skin is the average equivalent dose over the 1 cm² area that received the highest equivalent dose.

Emergencies

• 15 (1) The effective dose limits and equivalent dose limits prescribed in sections 13 and 14 do not apply to a person participating in the control of an emergency.

• (2) A licensee who requests a person to participate in the control of an emergency shall ensure that the person does not receive an effective dose greater than 50 mSv or an equivalent dose to the skin greater than 500 mSv unless that person is taking an emergency action described in Column 1 of the table to subsection (3).

• (3) A licensee who requests a person participate in the control of an emergency shall ensure, if that person takes an emergency action described in Column 1 of the table to this subsection, that the person does not receive an effective dose greater than that described in Column 2 or an equivalent dose to the skin greater than that described in Column 3.

  	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
  Item	Action	Effective dose (mSv)	Equivalent dose to the skin (mSv)
  1	Actions to minimize dose consequences, for members of the public, associated with the release of radioactive material	100	1 000
  2	Actions to prevent health effects of radiation that are fatal or life-threatening, or that result in permanent injury	500	5 000
  3	Actions to prevent the development of conditions that could significantly affect people and the environment	500	5 000

• (4) If, on the request of a licensee, a person takes actions described in more than one item of the table to subsection (3), the licensee shall ensure that the effective dose received by that person does not exceed 500 mSv and that the equivalent dose to the skin received by that person does not exceed 5 000 mSv.

• (5) A licensee shall limit the effective dose and equivalent dose received by and committed to persons participating in the control of an emergency to as low as is reasonably achievable, social and economic factors being taken into account.

• (6) A licensee shall notify as soon as feasible the person who received the dose of radiation and the Commission in the event that the licensee becomes aware that any of the dose limits prescribed in subsection (2), (3) or (4) may have been exceeded.

• (7) A licensee shall not request that a pregnant woman participate in the control of an emergency.

• (8) The dose limits prescribed by subsections (2), (3) and (4) and sections 13 and 14 may be exceeded by a person who acts voluntarily to save or protect human life.

When Dose Limit Exceeded

16 When a licensee becomes aware that a dose of radiation received by or committed to a person or an organ or tissue may have exceeded an applicable dose limit prescribed by section 13 or 14, the licensee must

• (a) immediately notify the person and the Commission of the dose;

• (b) require the person to leave any work that is likely to add to the dose if the person may have or has received a dose that exceeds a dose limit for a nuclear energy worker;

• (c) conduct an investigation to determine the magnitude of the dose and to establish the causes of the exposure;

• (d) identify and take any action required to prevent the occurrence of a similar incident; and

• (e) within 21 days after becoming aware that the dose limit has been exceeded, report to the Commission the results of the investigation or the progress that has been made in conducting it.

Authorization of Return to Work

17 When the Commission or a designated officer authorized under paragraph 37(2)(h) of the Act authorizes the return to work of a person referred to in section 16, the authorization may specify conditions to protect the health and safety of the person.