332 Non-Destructive Evaluation 2016 Risk Assessment andManagementof Radiation Safety in Industrial Applications of Ionizing Radiation: An Overview Alok Pandey*, Meghraj Singh, Amit Sen, D. M. Rane, A. U. Sonawane Radiological Safety Division, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Niyamak Bhavan, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai 400094, India *e-mail: alok@aerb.gov.in Abstract Ionizing radiation (radioisotopes and radiation generating equipment) is used worldwide for various industrial applications like non-destructive examinations, radiation processing of food and allied products, measurement of physical parameters in production industries etc. Activity of these sources ranges from few MBq to several PBq. In some of the events, equipment malfunctioning or operator error, may cause radiation accident leading to various biological effects to the affected person. Risk management in the applications of radioisotopes plays important role to reduce the probability of potential exposure to the occupational worker and public. Risk management is an iterative process which contributes progressively in each step to achieve the desired safetylevels. Thisnecessitatesassessmentof the associated risks and their impact on the occupational worker and general public.International agencies (ICRP, IAEA) recommends and encouragesthe risk assessment for the non-reactor radiation facilities. Several risk assessment studies have been carried out for such facilities in India & abroad. Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA)for food irradiation facility in India revels the risk of fatal death as 4.764 E- 07 per year, which is well below the acceptable limits for similar industries.Similar studies for risk assessment in industrial radiography are been carried out. This article outlines the studies carried out for the risk assessment in the industrial applications of radioisotopes. Overview of therecommended methodologies such as PSA, Failure Modes and Effect Analysis, for the risk assessment in industrial applications for different sources, categorised on the basis of potential hazard, has been included in the article along with the practical difficulties for conducting such studies like unavailability of sufficient data for human error and equipment malfunctioning, data uncertainty etc. Key words: Risk assessment, Probabilistic safety assessment, Radiation Safety, Radioactive sources, Industrial applications 1. INTRODUCTION Radioisotopes are used worldwide for various industrial applications like non- destructive testing by industrial radiography, radiation processing of food and allied products, measurement of physical parameters by nucleonic gauges,tracer applications, gamma scanning of columns, etc. Depending on the application requirements, type and quantity of radioactive source is selected. IAEA categorises the different radioactive sources based on the potential to cause harm to human health [1].Table 1 shows the radioisotopes used for various industrial applications.Radioactive sources are classified as hazardous material. In case of incident/accidents these sources may pose radiation hazard to the occupational workers and public. Severity of the radiation hazard depends on the amount of exposure (or dose) to the person. More info about this article: http://www.ndt.net/?id=21197