IAEA
As an international consensus on radiation protection, the publication of the revised International Basic Safety Standards (GSR Part 3) brings new challenges to the regulators, operators and workers in implementing the occupational radiation protection requirements in
different exposure situations, applicable for different industries such as Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) under Planned and Existing Exposure Situations.

For the application of the IAEA Safety Requirements on NORM activities, consideration needs to be given to the radiation protection of workers, the public and the environment for a wide range of NORM- industries on a global basis. The IAEA has initiated many activities, such as the development of Safety Standards applicable to the Uranium Mining and Processing Industry, Coal and Coal Ash Industry, Radiation Protection and NORM Residue Management in the Industrial uses of Thorium to complete the library for the industries defined in the Safety
Report on Assessing the Need for Radiation Protection Measures in Work Involving Minerals and Raw Materials (IAEA SR-49, 2006).

Overarching issues that need to be addressed are the following;
- Radiation protection experience is lacking in many industry sectors, except uranium mining community. Radiological issues of NORM industries can be generally characterized, but radiological protection management should be site and activity specific.
- NORM radiation protection regulations are often taken from the “normal” nuclear radiation regulatory structure and may not be appropriate for mining operations.
- The criteria of 1 Bq/g (activity consideration) is used as a threshold.
- There is a need to improve the process of sharing radiation protection operational management experience among various mining industries – safety approaches should not be proprietary.
- There is a need to develop a common language for engaging open and transparent dialogues with stakeholders (e.g. decision makers, regulators, the public, industry, etc.).
- There is a need for a structured and graded approach to radiological risk management as indicated in GSR Part 3.
- The focus on conventional worker health and safety issues will assist in addressing radiation protection issues (e.g. ventilation).
- Consideration should be given to systems optimisation.
- There is a need for clarity as to whether a NORM site is an Existing or Planned Exposure Situation. This has a practical significance for Rn, because dose limits only apply to Planned Exposure Situations.
- The social and economic radiological management of NORM sites depends on stakeholder trust – building and/or maintaining trust is a challenge.
- The dialogue with stakeholders regarding the radiological management of NORM sites should consider the prevailing circumstances, benefits and risks. Several countries restrict the amount of radionuclides of natural origin in building materials and reference level of “annual effective dose to the representative person generally should not exceed a value of  about 1 mSv. The Safety Guide SSG-32 proposes the use of an activity concentration index as a screening tool for identifying building materials that may need to be subject to restrictions; such as I < 1 for bulk materials or I < 6 for superficial materials (e.g. tiles), and then annual effective dose less than reference level of 1 mSv. It should be noted that
any actual decision on restricting the use of a material should be based on a separate dose assessment. Such assessment should be based on scenarios where the material is used in a typical way for the type of material in question.
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