What are the Annual Radiation Exposure Limits?
Text Box: The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), in Title 10, Part 20, Section 2101 Code of Federal Regulations has established the following annual radiation exposure limits: "An annual limit, which is the more limiting of-- (i) The total effective dose equivalent being equal to 5 rems (0.05 Sv); or (ii) The sum of the deep-dose equivalent and the committed dose equivalent to any individual organ or tissue other than the lens of the eye being equal to 50 rems (0.5 Sv). (2) The annual limits to the lens of the eye, to the skin of the whole body, and to the skin of the extremities, which are: (i) A lens dose equivalent of 15 rems (0.15 Sv), and (ii) A shallow-dose equivalent of 50 rem (0.5 Sv) to the skin of the whole body or to the skin of any extremity." 10 CFR 20.1207 establishes the annual occupational dose limits for minors as "10 percent of the annual dose limits specified for adult workers in § 20.1201" 10 CFR 20.1208 - Dose equivalent to an embryo/fetus requires: (a) The licensee shall ensure that the dose equivalent to the embryo/fetus during the entire pregnancy, due to the occupational exposure of a declared pregnant woman, does not exceed 0.5 rem (5 mSv). (For recordkeeping requirements, see § 20.2106.) (b) The licensee shall make efforts to avoid substantial variation above a uniform monthly exposure rate to a declared pregnant woman so as to satisfy the limit in paragraph (a) of this section. (c) The dose equivalent to the embryo/fetus is the sum of-- (1) The deep-dose equivalent to the declared pregnant woman; and (2) The dose equivalent to the embryo/fetus resulting from radionuclides in the embryo/fetus and radionuclides in the declared pregnant woman. (d) If the dose equivalent to the embryo/fetus is found to have exceeded 0.5 rem (5 mSv), or is within 0.05 rem (0.5 mSv) of this dose, by the time the woman declares the pregnancy to the licensee, the licensee shall be deemed to be in compliance with paragraph (a) of this section if the additional dose equivalent to the embryo/fetus does not exceed 0.05 rem (0.5 mSv) during the remainder of the pregnancy. As applied to members of the general public (i.e. individuals NOT occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation), the NRC, in 10 CFR 20.1301 requires that "The total effective dose equivalent to individual members of the public from the licensed operation does not exceed 0.1 rem (1 mSv) in a year, exclusive of the dose contributions from background radiation, from any administration the individual has received, from exposure to individuals administered radioactive material and released under § 35.75, from voluntary participation in medical research programs, and from the licensee’s disposal of radioactive material into sanitary sewerage in accordance with § 20.2003," These limits have been adopted by many states.  Limits established by your State or by other applicable regulatory agency may be different