Nuclear industries must carefully monitor and control what they release into the environment to keep the air, water and land clean. The safety standards issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency provide strict control mechanisms in member states to restrict the release of radionuclides and control any radiation impact on people and the environment.

Radionuclides can be discharged into the environment when nuclear techniques are used in medicine and science; During the operation of nuclear facilities; When extracting or processing uranium, mineral ores, fossil fuels, or phosphates. It is crucial to limit the release of radioactivity into the environment and ensure compliance with established standards for radiation protection.

Awareness has increased in recent years that the environment is vulnerable and must be protected from the effects of industrial pollutants, including radioactive pollutants. As a result, the historical human-centred approach to radiation protection, which assumed that protection for humans automatically also extended to other organisms, has shifted away from this idea to a more ecological approach, which explicitly considers the exposure of plants and animals to radioactivity and the potential impact on natural resources.

New and emerging international policies and legal instruments reflect this change, as do the Agency’s safety standards, which set additional targets for environmental protection. These issues have led to a review of the current approach to assessing and monitoring the impact of radionuclides. In particular, the Agency has given explicit consideration of potential impacts on non-human species in its latest guidance material, in line with recommendations developed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection and in line with the work undertaken by Agency Member States active in this area.