Brussels, 06/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 5 December, without debate, the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council adopted a new directive laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation which penetrates matter (such as the human body) potentially causing DNA damage.
The new directive allows five existing directives, linked to the European atomic energy community (Euratom), to be grouped within a single piece of legislation. It allows standards to be updated for the protection of the health of workers and the general public, especially in the medical field, industry, energy production and waste management.
These are basic safety standards for the protection against ionising radiation that the directive defines as being “energy transferred in the form of particles or electromagnetic waves of a wavelength of 100 nanometres or less (…) capable of producing ions directly or indirectly”. Member states will be under an obligation to set in place education, training and information programmes while establishing means of regulatory control. (JK/transl.jl)