Radiation Safety Centre

Established in July 9th, 2001, the Radiation Safety Centre (RSC) was initially a directly supervised institution of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MEPRD) and remained as such until 2009, when, in accordance with the amendments to the Law on Radiation Safety and Nuclear Safety, RSC was integrated into the State Environmental Service (SES) of Latvia as of July 2009.

Radiation Safety Centre is a unit of the SES. RSC SES`s functions are defined by the Law on Radiation Safety and Nuclear Safety, the rules of procedure of SES, and the rules of procedure of RSC SES, in order to provide supervision and control on issues concerning radiation safety and nuclear safety.

In compliance with the Cabinet of Ministers Regulations No 339 of 28th May, 2009 (on Reorganisation of the Radiation Safety Centre), functions concerning monitoring of radioactive pollution of the environment and individual dosimetry were transferred to the State Limited Liability Company "Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre".

The main mission of RSC SES is to ensure the safe use of sources of ionising radiation, to protect the public and the environment from possible harmful impact while providing maximum benefit from the use of said sources. RSC SES drafts administrative regulations concerning radiation safety and nuclear safety in accordance with the Law on Radiation Safety and Nuclear Safety to protect the public, its employees and the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation.

The set goals are being achieved by preparing and updating the normative basis in compliance with the newest international recommendations and normative acts, implementing quality control systems and employee training, as well as registering and licensing all radiation sources and their operators, inspecting the use of radiation sources, and ensuring the environmental control (dose rate and pollution monitoring).