The IAEA Safety Standards are the principal international reference for protecting people and the environment against the harmful effects of ionising radiation. They are non-binding by themselves but are written so that they can be adopted directly into national regulation, and most regulator peer reviews (IRRS, ARTEMIS, OSART) are benchmarked against them.

Three-tier hierarchy

The standards are structured as a single, internally consistent set of publications in three tiers:

  1. Safety Fundamentals (SF) — a single document, SF-1: Fundamental Safety Principles, stating the ten basic principles (responsibility for safety, role of government, leadership and management, justification, optimisation, dose limits, protection of present and future generations, prevention of accidents, emergency preparedness and response, protective actions to reduce existing or unregulated radiation risks).
  2. Safety Requirements (GSR, SSR) — what must be met: General Safety Requirements (governmental, legal and regulatory framework; leadership and management; radiation protection; assessment of facilities; preparedness and response; decommissioning, etc.) and Specific Safety Requirements (research reactors, fuel cycle facilities, power plants design, power plants commissioning and operation, waste, transport).
  3. Safety Guides (GSG, SSG) — recommendations on how to comply with the requirements, often very detailed.

Key documents

Frequently cited standards include:

  • SF-1 Fundamental Safety Principles.
  • GSR Part 1 (Rev. 1) Governmental, Legal and Regulatory Framework for Safety.
  • GSR Part 2 Leadership and Management for Safety.
  • GSR Part 3 Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards (the "BSS").
  • GSR Part 4 (Rev. 1) Safety Assessment for Facilities and Activities.
  • GSR Part 5 Predisposal Management of Radioactive Waste.
  • GSR Part 6 Decommissioning of Facilities.
  • GSR Part 7 Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency.
  • SSR-2/1 (Rev. 1) Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design.
  • SSR-2/2 (Rev. 1) Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Commissioning and Operation.
  • SSR-3 Safety of Research Reactors.
  • SSR-4 Safety of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities.
  • SSR-5 Disposal of Radioactive Waste.
  • SSR-6 (Rev. 1) Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material.

Overarching requirements and the e-version interface

Each Safety Requirements document includes a set of bold-text overarching requirements (formally called Requirements) which carry binding-style language. The IAEA maintains an online users interface (NUSS-OUI) that lets readers search the e-versions of the standards by publication number or keyword and drill into Overarching Requirements, Overall Recommendations, and the detailed text.

Drafting and review

Drafts are prepared by the IAEA Secretariat and reviewed by the relevant standing safety committees:

  • NUSSC — Nuclear Safety Standards Committee (power-plant safety).
  • RASSC — Radiation Safety Standards Committee.
  • TRANSSC — Transport Safety Standards Committee.
  • WASSC — Waste Safety Standards Committee.
  • EPReSC — Emergency Preparedness and Response Standards Committee.

The Commission on Safety Standards (CSS) oversees the whole structure. Member states are given an opportunity to comment on every draft, and final approval is by the IAEA Board of Governors.

Relationship to other instruments

The Safety Standards Series sits alongside the Nuclear Security Series (Fundamentals, Recommendations, Implementing Guides, Technical Guidance) and complements the Conventions (Convention on Nuclear Safety, Joint Convention on Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste, Early Notification, Assistance, Physical Protection).