Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee takes note of the reports of the Government in response to its previous comments.

1. Protection against accidents and in emergency situations. The Committee notes with interest the provisions contained in sections 74 and 165 et seq. (Chapter XIV) of the 1998 Regulations concerning Technical Protection against Ionizing Radiations, prescribing the measures to be taken in emergency situations which reflect the indications provided by the Committee in paragraphs 16 to 27 and 35(c) of its 1992 general observations under the Convention, and the indications contained in paragraphs V.1. to V.30. of the 1994 International Basic Safety Standards. The Committee however notes that the above Regulations refer to emergency situations, but do not provide a definition of what is considered as an emergency. In this respect, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the matters raised in paragraph 35(c)(iii) of the conclusions to its 1992 general observation under the Convention, according to which provisions should be made in law and practice for adopting a strict definition of circumstances in which exceptional exposure of workers, exceeding the normally tolerated dose limit, is to be allowed for immediate and urgent remedial work; that work must be strictly limited in scope and duration to what is required to meet an acute danger to life and health; exceptional exposure of workers is neither justified for the purpose of rescuing items of high material value, nor, more generally, because alternative techniques of intervention, which do not involve such exposure of workers, would involve excessive expense. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, the measures adopted to take into consideration the recommendations formulated in this respect by the Committee in its abovementioned general observation under the Convention.

2. Part V of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice in the country, including, for example, extracts from inspection reports or from other official reports on practical difficulties encountered in the application of the Convention.