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Radiation protection legislation

EU’s radiation protection rules are based on the Euratom Treaty and aims at maintaining and enhancing the high level of protection of individuals, pursuing a better understanding of radiation risks, and ensuring adequate preparedness and response.

Ionising radiation is used in many areas of our daily lives for improving the quality of life, including the use of radiation generators and radioactive substances in medicine, industry, agriculture, or research, in addition to electricity production using nuclear fission. We are also exposed to natural sources of ionising radiation, such as radon and cosmic rays.

The EU has more than 60 years of experience, since 1959 when the first directive laying down basic safety standards was adopted, in developing and implementing radiation protection legislation, aiming at ensuring the highest level of protection of individuals from ionising radiation. At the same time, the EU radiation protection legislation has to consider and align to advances in radiation protection science, and rapidly evolving technologies, such as medical applications and artificial intelligence, which may impact future radiation protection policy.

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Euratom Treaty

The Euratom Treaty was signed on 25 March 1957, and entered into force on 1 January 1958.

With relevance for the radiation protection area, one of the key objectives of the Euratom Treaty is to provide for the establishment of uniform safety standards to protect the health of workers and of the general public. In this respect, the Treaty defines "basic standards" for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation, and defines the process of developing such standards. On this basis, a comprehensive body of secondary legislation – with the Basic Safety Standards Directive at its centre – has been enacted over the years.

In addition, the Treaty requires the EU countries to

  • establish the facilities necessary to carry out continuous monitoring of the level of radioactivity in the air, water and soil, which can be verified by the Commission (see Art. 35 Euratom Treaty and the Commission Communication 2006/C 155/02
  • communicate periodically to the Commission information on the results of this monitoring (see Art. 36 Euratom Treaty and the Commission Recommendation 2000/473/Euratom 
  • provide the Commission with such general data relating to any plan for the disposal of radioactive waste so that the Commission can determine any potential radioactive contamination of the water, soil or airspace of another EU Member State (see Art. 37 Euratom Treaty and the Commission Recommendation 2010/635/Euratom)

Basic safety standards

The key radiation protection legal instrument, adopted on the basis of the Euratom Treaty, is the Basic Safety Standards Directive 2013/59/EURATOM. It lays down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation, and repeals Directives 89/618/Euratom, 90/641/Euratom, 96/29/Euratom, 97/43/Euratom and 2003/122/Euratom. 

The directive, developed in consultation with a group of scientific experts in public health and in radiation protection, sets out, in a single comprehensive document, uniform basic safety standards for the protection of the health of individuals subject to occupational, medical and public exposures against the dangers arising from ionising radiation. 

It covers all relevant radiation sources, including natural radiation sources, and integrates the protection of workers, members of the public and patients. It also deals with all types of exposure situations, distinguishing between planned, existing, and emergency situations. The directive takes account of the status of science and technology, notably of the recommendations made by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).

The main objectives of the directive include the protection of

  • workers exposed to ionising radiation, such as workers in the nuclear industry and other industrial applications, medical staff and those working in places with indoor radon or in activities involving naturally occurring radioactive material
  • members of the public, for example, from radon in buildings
  • medical patients, for example, by avoiding accidents in radio-diagnosis and radiotherapy

Drinking Water

Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom lays down requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption. Considering that the ingestion of water is one of the pathways of incorporation of radioactive substances into the human body, it is important to set quality standards which have an indicator function and to provide for the monitoring of compliance with those standards. In this regard, the directive sets out parametric values, frequencies, and methods for monitoring radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption. The general public should be adequately and appropriately informed of the quality of water intended for human consumption.

Addressing a specific aspect, considering that radon in domestic water supplies causes human exposure through ingestion and inhalation pathways, the Commission published Recommendation 2001/928/Euratom covering the protection of the public against exposure to radon in drinking water supplies.

Radioactive contamination of food and feed

Following a nuclear accident or radiological emergency happening in Europe or elsewhere in the world, food and feed may become contaminated with radioactive substances. The main EU instrument ensuring food and feed safety in such a scenario is Council Regulation (Euratom) 2016/52, which establishes maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination of food and feed originating in the EU or imported from third countries, which have to be respected before placing these products on the market.  

In practice, if the Commission receives official information on a nuclear accident or radiological emergency which can lead to or has led to significant radioactive food and feed contamination, it adopts an implementing Regulation, which lays down rules for the introduction of such food and feed into the market and triggers the application of the maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination already established in Council Regulation (Euratom) 2016/52. The implementing regulations adopted after the nuclear accidents of Chernobyl in 1986 and of Fukushima in 2011 are

Control of radioactive sources in the EU

Radioactive sources are used in medicine, research and industrial activities. The radioactive material is sealed in small metal containers and, as long as it is handled and disposed of correctly, it does not pose any threat to human health or the environment. However, these sources can be lost, abandoned or even stolen and fall in the hands of people without licence, or the correct knowledge how to handle them. They can also end up in scrap metal recycling plants, leading to accidental contamination. These radioactive sources, which are outside regulatory control, are called orphan sources.

The Euratom Community has specific rules to prevent the exposure of workers and the public to radioactivity that could arise from inadequate control of radioactive sources, and to ensure that each radioactive source is kept under control. They are compiled in chapter IX (sections 2 and 3) of the Basic Safety Standards Directive (2013/59/Euratom). The requirements are closely linked to the International Atomic Energy Agency Code of conduct on the safety and security of radioactive sources, and its related guidance.

The specific Euratom Community rules to maintain control of shipments between EU countries are described in Council Regulation 1493/93. In 2022, the Commission published a Communication concerning the regulation (2022/C 288/01). 

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