THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW
ON RADIATION PROTECTION
12 January 1999 No. VIII-1019
Vilnius
Chapter I
PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS
Article 1. Purpose
1. This Law shall regulate relations of legal persons, enterprises without the status of a legal person, and natural persons arising from activities involving sources of ionising radiation and radioactive waste management. This Law shall establish the legal basis of radioactive protection allowing to safeguard people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation.
2. This Law shall regulate relations arising during the use of nuclear energy in as much as they are not regulated by the provisions of the Law on Nuclear Energy.
Article 2. Definitions
2.Worker whose work involves sources of ionising radiation (hereinafter - worker) - a person working under a contract of employment with sources of ionising radiation or subject to their effect and subject to exposure, its doses above the limits prescribed to members of the population.
3. Population - persons, other than workers, pupils and students, using sources of ionising radiation during their studies, those exposed to radiation for their own health care, and those voluntarily helping patients or participating in programmes of medical and biomedical research.
4. Ionising radiation - radiation capable of producing ion pairs with differing charges in the biological environment.
5. Ionising radiation generators - devices and their components possessing no radioactive substances but capable of generating ionising radiation owing to their technical properties.
6. Source of ionising radiation - a device, a radioactive substance, a facility, a product or a commodity producing or capable of producing ionising radiation.
7. Permit - a document granting a single right to import, export or carry in transit radioactive substances pursuant to the conditions and requirements stipulated in this Law and other legislation.
8. Licence - an authorisation to engage in activities specified in the licence pursuant to the conditions and requirements stipulated in this Law and other legislation.
9. Medical exposure - exposure incurred by patients as part of their own health care, during medical and biomedical research and persons, other than workers, while voluntarily helping patients.
10. Natural radiation - ionising radiation including cosmic radiation and radiation of naturally occurring radionuclides.
11. Clearance levels - established values at or below which requirements of legal acts regulating radioactive protection are not applied and a licence is not required.
12. Radiological accident - a situation resulting from equipment failure, operating errors or other reasons, the consequences or potential consequence of which call for the use of radioactive protection measures.
13. Radiation protection - a sum total of legal, technical, technological, construction, hygiene, safety at work, and environmental protection norms, rules and measures ensuring protection of people and the environment from the harmful effect of ionising radiation.
15. Radioactive substance - any substance having one or more nuclides with the activity above the prescribed limit.
16. Radioactive contamination - contamination of any material, surface or the environment and humans with radioactive substances. Radioactive contamination of a human is both external contamination of the skin and internal contamination.
17. State radiation protection expert examination - analysis of radiation protection data and its projected development carried out by state institutions authorised pursuant to this Law, other laws of the Republic of Lithuania and resolutions of the Government.
18. Practices with sources of ionising radiation (hereinafter - practices) - activities of legal persons and enterprises without the status of a legal person with sources of ionising radiation or radioactive waste causing additional radiation exposure of the staff and the population or increasing the number of people exposed or the likelihood of their exposure.
Article 3. Basic Principles of Radiation Protection
All practices shall be authorised and conducted in accordance with the following basic principles of radioactive protection:
1) the principle of justification of the operation of sources of ionising radiation - the economic, social and other benefits yielded by all types of practices involving operation of sources of ionising radiation to individuals or society must outweigh the detriment radiation causes to human health and the environment;
2) the principle of optimisation - any kind of exposure of individuals and society must be as low as reasonably achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account;
3) the principle of limitation - the sum total of doses resulting from all types of practices may not exceed the fixed value, with the exception of a personal dose received by a patient for his own health care and an individual (other than as part of his occupation) voluntarily helping a patient or participating in medical and biomedical research.
Article 4. Competence of the Government in the Field of State Management
of Radiation Protection
In implementing the state policy in the field of management of radiation protection the Government shall:
2) regulate living and economic conditions under an emergency regime in the territories affected by a radiological accident;
3) establish the State Register of Sources of Ionising Radiation and Exposure of Workers and approve its regulations;
4) establish competence of the ministries and other state agencies in the sphere of management of radiation protection;
Article 5. Competence of the Mayor of a District (Town) Municipality in the
Sphere of State Management of Radioactive Protection
Radiation protection shall be a function delegated to the municipality by the state with the mayor responsible for its exercise. The mayor of a district (town) municipality shall:
1) voice the opinion on behalf of the municipality in adopting decisions on the construction, reconstruction or decommissioning of facilities using or intending to use sources of ionising radiation;
2) in the manner prescribed by the laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, provide information to the public about radiological accidents, contamination by radioactive substances which may affect or which have affected the environment, the human health and life, and the undertaken measures of radiation protection;
3) develop plans for radiation protection of people and containment of radiological accidents and implement them in the event of a radiological accident;
Article 6. Competence of the Ministry of Health Care in the Management
of Radioactive Protection
The Ministry of Health Care shall perform the following functions in the management of radioactive protection:
1) establish radiation protection standards for the population and for its individual groups (workers, pupils, students, pregnant women, etc.) and organise supervision and control of their compliance;
Article 7. The Radiation Protection Centre and its Competence in the Field
of State Management of Radiation Protection
1. The Radiation Protection Centre shall be a body co-ordinating the activities of executive and other bodies of public administration and local government in the sphere of radioactive protection, exercising state supervision and control of radioactive protection, monitoring and expert examination of public exposure. The Radioactive Protection Centre shall be established and its regulations shall be approved by the Ministry of Health Care. The Radiation Protection Centre is a legal person funded from the state budget.
2. The Radiation Protection Centre shall have the following functions:
2) in accordance with the procedure established by the Government, it shall issue, reregister, suspend, renew or revoke licences for conducting practices specified in paragraph 1 of Article 8 of this Law;
3) it shall supervise and control compliance of legal persons and enterprises without the status of a legal person with the requirements laid down in this Law, licences, and legal acts on radioactive safety, and shall hold them liable in accordance with law for breach of these requirements;
4) shall organise and conduct monitoring of contamination by radionuclides of air, drinking water, foodstuffs and their raw materials, building materials and their products as well as other objects which may result in the exposure of humans; shall take and obtain necessary samples in accordance with the procedure set forth in laws and other legal acts;
5) shall prepare, within the limits of its competence, reviews of radioactive safety and make proposals relating with regard to radioactive safety to the executive bodies of public administration, control institutions and local government of all levels and provide information to the public;
6) shall organise and carry out monitoring of individual exposure of the population, workers and their separate risk groups under the normal conditions and in the event of radiological accidents, shall undertake studies and assessment of the impact of ionising radiation on humans;
7) shall organise and conduct, within the limits of its competence, study and state expert examination of radioactive protection;
8) shall carry out study of radiological accidents, forecast their consequences and make proposals for their prevention and containment;
9) shall co-operate with international and national organisations in the field of radioactive protection;
Article 8. Licensing and Authorisation of Practices, Prohibited Practices
1. It shall be prohibited to produce, operate, market, store, assemble, maintain, repair, recycle, and transport sources of ionising radiation and handle (collect, sort, treat, keep, recycle, transport, store and decontaminate) radioactive waste without a licence issued by the Radiation Protection Centre in cases other than those set forth in paragraph 2 of this Article.
2. The licence specified in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be required:
3. It shall be prohibited to import, export, carry in transit or transport radioactive substances in the Republic of Lithuania without an authorisation granted in the manner prescribed by the Government or a body designated by it.
4. The procedure for the import, transit and export of radioactive substances in the category of controlled commodities shall be regulated by the Law on the Import, Transit and Export of Strategic Commodities and Technologies.
5. It shall be prohibited to add intentionally radioactive substances to foodstuffs, toys, jewellery, cosmetics and to market, import and export such products.
Article 9. Institutions Issuing Licences and Permits
1. Licences for practices specified in paragraph 1 of Article 8 of this Law, other than licences issued by state institutions listed in the Law on Nuclear Energy, shall be issued, reregistered, suspended, renewed and revoked by the Radiation Protection Centre.
2. Permits for the import, export, transit or transportation in the Republic of Lithuania of radioactive substances intended for individual and public health care institutions, enterprises, research and educational institutions as well as institutions of public administration and local government shall be issued by the Ministry of the Environment after consultation with the Radiation Protection Centre, and in all other cases - by the Government with the advice of the Ministry of the Environment.
Article 10. Responsibilities of a Licensed Legal Person or an Enterprise without
the Status of a Legal Person
A legal person or an enterprise without the status of a legal person licensed to conduct practices specified in paragraph 1 of Article 8 of this Law and conducting activities specified in the licence must:
1) ensure registration of the sources of ionising radiation, their proper technical condition, safety and safe operation and duly notify, in accordance with the procedure stipulated by legal acts, the State Register of Sources of Ionising Radiation and Exposure of Workers about the sources in possession;
3) if the sites where practices are conducted are visited by members of the population or workers of other enterprises, institutions or organisations are temporarily working there, ensure radiation protection of the said persons in accordance with the requirements of this Law and other legal acts relating to radiation protection;
4) in order to achieve compliance with the requirements of this Law and other legal acts relating to radioactive protection and supervision of their enforcement, appoint qualified competent persons or establish units of radiation protection;
6) carry out exposure monitoring of workers and their workplaces in accordance with the procedure established by the Radiation Protection Centre;
7) in the manner prescribed by legal acts, register workers and submit the data to the State Register of Sources of Ionising Radiation and Exposure of Workers;
8) on its own initiative or at the request of the executive bodies of public administration, control institutions, and local government, discontinue practices which do not comply with the requirements of radiation protection;
9) in accordance with the procedure established by the laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, deliver for disposal sources of ionising radiation that are unsuitable for use or are no longer in use;
10) in accordance with the procedure established by the Government or an institution designated by it, conduct monitoring of the impact on the environment;
11) upon request, make available to the Radiation Protection Centre objective information about the conditions in which practices are conducted, products with sources of ionising radiation manufactured, imported into the Republic of Lithuania, marketed, and exported from it;
12) take preventive measures against radiological accidents, in a timely and detailed manner inform the population and the executive bodies of public administration, control institutions and local government of the Republic of Lithuania about the risks associated with the practises; in the event of a radiological accident, take actions and measures for the containment of causes hazardous to human health and the environment and elimination of the consequences; in accordance with the procedure set forth in this Law and other laws, compensate for the damage to human health and the environment resulting from breach of the regulations of radiation protection committed by a licensed legal person or an enterprise without the status of a legal person;
13) in accordance with the procedure prescribed by legal acts, label the sources of ionising radiation and their containers, and duly provide information to the consumers about protection against ionising radiation;
14) in accordance with the manner prescribed by this Law and other legal acts, those authorised to market or transfer for use sources of ionising radiation ascertain that a legal person or an enterprise without the status of a legal person to whom those sources of ionising radiation are being sold or transferred, are in possession of a license to use them;
Article 11. Verification of Compliance with Radiation Protection Requirements
1. The sources of ionising radiation, radiation protection equipment, other devices and substances that may cause additional exposure of the population, also products having sources of ionising radiation may be sold or used subject to the verification of compliance with radiation protection requirements.
2. Compliance of sources of ionising radiation, radiation protection equipment and other devices and substances likely to cause additional exposure of the population also of products containing sources of ionising radiation with the radiation protection requirements shall be controlled by the Radiation Protection Centre in accordance with the procedure established by the Ministry of Health Care. Where the sources of ionising radiation, radiation protection equipment and other devices, substances and products containing sources of ionising radiation may have additional effects on the environment, verification of compliance shall be carried out by the Radiation Protection Centre together with the Ministry of the Environment.
Article 12. Responsibilities of Workers
Workers must use adequate protective equipment, undertake all measures to protect themselves and other persons or the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation.
Article 13. Restrictions for Adolescents, Pregnant and Nursing Women to be
Engaged in Work Involving Sources of Ionising Radiation
1. Work involving sources of ionising radiation may be performed by people who are over 18 years of age.
2. Persons in the age group of 16 to 18 may perform work with sources of ionising radiation only for the purposes of professional training and not exceeding the limits of exposure established by the Ministry of Health Care.
3. The employer must provide a pregnant female worker with such work so as to ensure that the exposure of the foetus is not above the exposure levels as required for the population in accordance with the procedure set forth in the Law on Labour Protection and the Law on the Employment Contract.
Article 14. Workers’ Health Surveillance
1. Workers are subject to a pre-employment medical examination and periodic reviews of health. Persons may be employed for work involving ionising radiation only subject to a review of health in accordance with the procedure determined by the Ministry of Health Care and a conclusion of a medical commission stating that according to the condition of their health they are fit for that kind of work.
2. When a worker has been found to have symptoms of a disease related to the effects of ionising radiation or it has been established or there are grounds to suspect that the dose limits have been exceeded, before the causes and circumstances of the disease or increased exposure are established and the Radiation Protection Centre gives a permission for the worker to continue his work, the employer must provide the worker with alternative work different from a practice involving sources of ionising radiation in accordance with the procedure set forth in the Law on the Employment Contract and the Law on Labour Protection.
Article 15. Compulsory Training of Workers and Officers
1. In the Republic of Lithuania the following persons must undergo a training in radioactive protection:
1) workers of enterprises, institutions and organisations, engaged in work involving sources of ionising radiation;
2. Employers must organise at their own expense training of the workers specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, and the executive bodies of public administration, control and local government institutions - training of the officers. The frequency and procedure of training and assessment of knowledge of the workers listed in item 1, paragraph 1 of this Article shall be determined by the Ministry of Health Care, and of the officers listed in item 2, paragraph 1 of this Article - by the Department of Civil Security under the Ministry of National Defence.
3. Employers must provide workers with information relating to radiation protection prior to conclusion of the contract of employment, when transferring them to another work involving sources of ionising radiation, when changing work (production) processes, technologies, working conditions involving sources of ionising radiation also when standards, norms, regulations and instructions are being revised.
Article 16. Notification of Foreign Countries
The extent and procedure of notification of foreign countries about radioactive protection in the Republic of Lithuania shall be established by international agreements and other legal acts.
Article 17. Radioactive Waste
Radioactive waste must be collected, sorted, treated, handled, recycled, transported, stored, decontaminated, disposed or discharged into the environment pursuant to the laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 18. Decommissioning of Ionising Radiation Generators
1. The procedure for decommissioning of ionising radiation generators shall be established by the Ministry of Health Care or a body designated by it.
Article 19. State Expert Examination and Control of Radioactive
Contamination of Foodstuffs, Feedingstuffs, Drinking Water and Soil
1. The maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination of foodstuffs, drinking water and feedingstuffs that may cause contamination of foodstuffs and the procedure for state expert examination and control of contamination shall be established by the Ministry of Health or an authority appointed by it.
2. The maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination of soil that may cause contamination of foodstuffs, and the procedure for state expert examination and control of contamination shall be established by the Ministry of the Environment in conjunction with the Ministry of Health Care.
Article 20. Natural Ionising Radiation and its Permitted Levels
1. Natural exposure of members of the population and workers caused by natural radiation in buildings, workplaces and the environment shall be regulated by the Ministry of Health Care.
Article 21. Natural Radionuclides in Building Materials and Products
1. A list of certified building materials and products which must be tested radiologically, and the obligatory norms of permissible contamination shall be established by the Ministry of Health Care in conjunction with the Ministry of the Environment.
Article 22. Radiation Protection Requirements for Medical Exposure
1. A legal person or an enterprise without the status of a legal person engaged in practices that result in exposure must make appropriate arrangements to ensure that the equipment, materials, and additional measures are in compliance with the radiation protection requirements, that the staff have adequate qualifications, that appropriate quality assurance programmes are developed and implemented, and that the exposure of patients is as low as reasonably achievable.
2. The sources of ionising radiation may be used for health care of an individual or in medical, biomedical research with humans only in such cases when the patient or the person under investigation receives prior information about the aims of the use of sources of ionising radiation and its possible health effects and gives his consent to undergo investigation or treatment with the help of the sources of ionising radiation. Medical and biomedical research involving sources of ionising radiation with humans is subject to a prior authorisation from the Medical Ethics Committee of Lithuania after consultation with the Radiation Protection Centre.
3. The procedure for screening, diagnosis and therapy involving medical exposure shall be established by the Ministry of Health Care.
Article 23. Liability for Breach of Legal Acts Regulating Radiation Protection
Requirements
For breach of legal acts regulating radiation protection legal and natural persons, enterprises without the status of a legal person shall be held liable in the manner stipulated by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 24. Principles of Entry into International Agreements or their
Individual Provisions Relating to Radiation Protection Issues
between the Republic of Lithuania and Foreign Countries
1. International agreements establishing relations with regard to radioactive protection in the Republic of Lithuania shall be entered into in accordance with the principles and norms of international law and the law of the Republic of Lithuania regulating conclusion of international agreements.
2. Authorised representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, the Department of Civil Security under the Ministry of National Defence, the Radiation Protection Centre, the State Atomic Energy Safety Inspectorate and the Ministry of the Interior shall take part in preparation of draft international agreements or their individual provisions relating to state radioactive protection issues.
Article 25. Entry into Force
The Law on Radiation Protection shall enter into force on 1 April 1999.
Article 26. Assignments for the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
1. By 1 April 1999, the Government shall:
2) submit to the Seimas draft laws on the amendment of the Code of Administrative Offences, the Law on Nuclear Energy, the Law on Environmental Protection, and the Law on Enterprises;
Article 27. Assignments for the Ministry of Health Care
1. By 1 April 1999, the Ministry of Health Care shall:
1) in conjunction with the State Atomic Energy Safety Inspectorate, the Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania establish the procedure for providing information about nuclear and radioactive substances carried across the state border of Lithuania;
3) establish the procedure of verification of compliance of the sources of ionising radiation, other equipment and materials likely to cause additional exposure of humans with the requirements of radiation protection;