This Safety Report updates IAEA Safety Series No. 39, Safe Handling of Plutonium (1974), and provides an overview of modern practices for handling and storing separated plutonium. It provides descriptions of plutonium and its properties, and of the biological effects on humans of plutonium. The principles underlying the safe design and operation of plutonium handling/storage facilities and the licensing of such facilities are also covered.

This Safety Report specifies features of work under radiation conditions, the general rules of radiological protection for occupational exposure and the organization of the medical surveillance of workers occupationally exposed to radiation. It supersedes IAEA Safety Series No. 83, Radiation Protection in Occupational Health: Manual for Occupational Physicians (1987).

This Safety Report contains the findings of extensive research in terms of the lessons that can be learned from accidents which have occurred in industrial radiography, both in developed and developing countries. The review was carried out by a team of regulatory authorities, manufacturers and safety advisers. The objectives were to draw lessons from the initiating events of the accidents, the contributing factors and the consequences, and to identify several measures that, if implemented, would improve safety performance in industrial radiography.

This Safety Report was jointly sponsored by the IAEA and WHO. It outlines the roles and tasks of health authorities and hospital administrators in emergency preparedness for radiological accidents and provides information relevant to the integration of medical preparedness into emergency plans.

This Safety Report discusses the ways of preparing a fire hazard analysis for a nuclear power plant. A comprehensive fire hazard analysis determines the adequacy of the fire protection measures (e.g. administrative controls, operator actions and passive fire protection components) and the necessary fixed fire protection systems. The publication will be useful to designers of new plants as well as operators of existing plants when preparing or updating a fire hazard analysis.

This report is based on information presented at two IAEA Technical Committee meetings held within the framework of the IAEA Project on Operational Safety Guidance in 1993 and 1994. The document was prepared to provide guidance to Member States in assessing the status of equipment qualification (EQ) in operational nuclear power plants and in preserving this status. It offers methods and practices for activities which are necessary for a successful implementation of periodical safety reviews. The report should be of value for all countries that are parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which entered into force on 24 October 1996 and stipulates the review and, where necessary, the upgrading of the safety of existing nuclear installations.

The main purpose of this report is to assist physicians involved in the early medical handling of radiation victims to apply prompt diagnostic measures and emergency treatment. Special emphasis is given to localized radiation injuries, which are the most frequently occurring direct health effects observed from ionizing radiation. The lessons learned from the accidents at Chernobyl (Ukraine, 1986), Goiânia (Brazil, 1987), San Salvador (El Salvador, 1989), Soreq (Israel, 1990) and Nesvizh (Belarus, 1991) on the early medical handling of radiation injuries have been incorporated into this report.

This report illustrates the concepts and principles of safety culture as given in Safety Series No. 75-INSAG-4, Safety Culture - A Report by the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (1991). It provides a small selection of examples of good and poor safety practice taken from a worldwide collection of safety performance evaluations (e.g. IAEA Safety services, national regulatory inspections, utility audits and plant assessments). These documented evaluations collectively provide a database of safety peformance strengths and weaknesses, and related safety culture observations.