Establishment classes

In the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, establishments that possess radioactive sources or electrical equipment that emits ionising radiation are divided into different classes.

There are four classes: I, II, III and IV. The class assigned to an establishment depends on its practices. If an establishment engages in practices that could qualify it for 2 or more classes, it is assigned the highest applicable class.

Classification is based on a graded approach according to the radiological risk of the practice.

Class I

The following establishments are assigned Class I:

• establishments where one or more particle accelerators are used involving significant activation from a radioactive waste management perspective or for the production of radionuclides, and also establishments where these accelerators are produced;
• establishments that use X-ray generators of more than 1 megaelectronvolt for industrial sterilisation purposes;
• establishments where radioactive nuclides are used or held, the activity of which exceeds the D value by a factor of one thousand for at least one individual source;
• establishments that produce radioactive substances or manufacture radioactive sources for sale;
• establishments that treat and condition radioactive waste;
• establishments that use accelerators or sealed radioactive sources for the purpose of external radiotherapy or brachytherapy.

Class II

The following establishments are assigned Class II:

• establishments that use or hold radionuclides if the activity of an individual source or substance is greater than or equal to 1000 times the exemption value;
• establishments that perform industrial radiography, unless they use equipment operated from a purpose-designed booth;
• establishments that collect and temporarily store radioactive waste;
• establishments that have one or more facilities where:

• fissile materials are used or stored;
• radiation exposure is used for medical purposes, with the exception of dental X-ray equipment without 3D imaging capabilities;
• X-ray machines or any other electron accelerator device is used, the components of which operate with a potential difference greater than 300 kilovolts (kV);
• radioactive substances are intentionally added for the purpose of producing and manufacturing consumer products, medicine and medical devices, and the import of such products;
• human beings are exposed to radiation for non-medical imaging purposes;
• particle accelerators and neutron-generating electrical devices are present.

Class III

The following establishments are assigned Class III:

• establishments that use or hold radionuclides if the activity of an individual source or substance is equal to the exemption value or between 1 and 1000 times the exemption value;
• establishments that use X-ray machines or any other electron accelerating device whose components operate with a potential difference that is less than or equal to 300 kV, with the exception of electrical devices operating at a potential difference that is less than or equal to 30 kV, provided that, during normal operation, they do not generate a dose rate greater than 0.5 microsieverts per hour at any point within 0.1 metres of their accessible surface;
• establishments that use or store naturally radioactive substances, the activity concentration of which is greater than or equal to 100 becquerels per gram. This concentration corresponds to parent nuclides at equilibrium with the daughter nuclides;
• establishments that use dental X-ray machines without 3D imaging capabilities.

Class IV

A practice may be exempt from an authorisation system applicable to establishments in classes I to III if the quantity or concentration of activity corresponds to the limits defined for class IV.
However, these practices must be declared to the Radiation Protection Division (Division de la radioprotection).

The following establishments are assigned Class IV:

• establishments that use or store quantities of radionuclides if the activity of any individual source or substance is less than the exemption value, but exceeds 1/100 of the exemption value;
• establishments that use or store naturally radioactive substances if the activity concentration is greater than 1 and less than 100 becquerels per gram. This concentration corresponds to parent nuclides at equilibrium with the daughter nuclides.

High-activity sources

High-activity sources, as defined by Council Directive 2003/122/EURATOM of 22 December 2003, present considerable potential risks for human health and the environment.

In addition to the requirements for a Class-II establishment, high-activity sources must be subject to strict controls from their manufacture until such time as they are handed over to an approved facility for their long-term storage or disposal.

The prevention of radiological accidents and injuries requires knowledge of the location of each high-activity source. Each source is logged and checked from the time it is acquired until being handed over to an approved facility.

All changes in the status of a high-activity source, such as its location or use, must be recorded and notified to the Radiation Protection Division. No physical or financial barriers should prevent the proper reuse, recycling or disposal of such sources when they cease to be used under reasonably foreseeable conditions.

The activity values corresponding to a dangerous source (D values) for a selection of radionuclides are defined in Table 1 of Appendix II of the Law of 28 May 2019 on radiation protection.