Re: Definition of radiation accident and radiation incident

["Abu-Jarad, Falah A" <falah.abujarad@aramco.com>]

Thank you for the quick and informative response.



 



Falah Abu-Jarad



Falah.abujarad@aramco.com



 



- ----- Original Message -----



From: Abu-Jarad, Falah A



To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu



Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 1:57 PM



Subject: Definition of radiation accident and radiation incident



 



 



What are the definitions of radiation accident and radiation incident?



I understand that radiation accident according to IAEA Nuclear event

scales



is ranged from scales 4-7 and radiation incident from scales 1-3.



 



But for portable radiation sources (like industrial radiography) what is

the



difference between radiation incident and accident?.



 



Dr. Falah Abu-Jarad



Falah.abujarad@aramco.com



 



 



 



------------------------------



 



Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 13:13:49 -0700



From: "Jose Julio Rozental" <joseroze@netvision.net.il>



Subject: Re: Definition of radiation accident and radiation incident



 



According with the IAEA:



 



1- Accident -  Any unintended event, including operating errors,

equipment



failures or other mishaps, the consequences or potential consequences of



which are not negligible from the point of view of protection or safety.



 



Nuclear accident - Any accident involving facilities or activities from



which a release of radioactive material occurs or is likely to occur and



which has resulted or may result in an international transboundary

release



that could be of radiological safety significance for another State.



This is not explicitly stated to be a definition of nuclear accident,

but it



is derived from the statement of the scope of application in Article 1

of



the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, and

therefore



may be regarded as such a definition. For the purposes of Agency



publications,



 



2 - The word incident is often used, in INES and elsewhere, to describe



events that are, in effect, minor accidents, i.e. that are distinguished



from accidents only in terms of being less severe. This is an arbitrary



distinction with little basis in normal usage.



An incident can be minor or major, just as an accident can, but unlike

an



accident, an incident can be caused intentionally.



 



Nuclear incident - Any occurrence or series of occurrences having the

same



origin which causes nuclear damage or, but only with



respect to preventive measures, creates a grave and imminent threat of



causing such damage.



 



The definition, as you can see,  does not distinguish between nuclear or



radiological or radioactive sources. So, considering  radioactive

sources,



you can use the same concept, Example - The Radiological Accident in



Goiania, (Not as many use to write Radiological Incident of Goiania) I

wrote



to IAEA that I can't agree with a level less than 6.



 



I have proposed to IAEA to create a new Scale, IRES International



Radiological Event System with the same levels than those used in INES.



 



Jose Julio Rozental



joseroze@netvision.net.il



Israel