Radionuclides can be discharged into the environment when nuclear techniques are used in medicine and science; during the operation of nuclear facilities; and when uranium, metal ores, fossil fuels or phosphates are mined or processed. It is of key importance to limit the release of radioactivity into the environment and to ensure compliance with established radiation protection standards.
In recent years the awareness has grown that the environment is vulnerable and needs to be protected against the effects of industrial pollutants, including radioactive ones. As a result, the historical anthropocentric approach to radiation protection, which assumed that the protection of human beings automatically also covered other species, has ceded to a more ecological methodology, considering explicitly the exposures of flora and fauna to radioactivity and the potential impact to natural resources.
New and developing international policies and legal instruments reflect this change, as do the IAEA Safety Standards, which have set additional goals for environmental protection. These have led to a review of the current approach for assessing and controlling the impact of radionuclides. In particular, the IAEA has taken up the explicit consideration of possible impacts on non-human species in its newest guidance material, in line with the recommendations developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection and consistent with the work undertaken by the Agency’s Member States active in this field.
