To safeguard flight attendants from excessive radiation exposure, the South Korean Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) has explained recent modifications made to local laws.
The number of international flights that cabin crew members can take will be limited, according to South Korean news source Yonhap News source (YNA), in an effort to reduce their radiation exposure. The new regulation would compel airlines to evaluate the number of flights and routes taken by certain flight attendants with the goal of lowering their radiation exposure to 6 millisieverts (mSv) annually.
According to the NSSC, which tracks radiation exposure in the home and publishes an annual report, flight attendants received an average maximum dose of 5.42 mSv between 2017 and 2021, despite the dose limit being 1 mSv.
1.59 mSv per year was the average exposure for the same time period. However, the pandemic-related timeframe contains much fewer international flight operations.
Airlines might be fined up to KRW6 million ($4,728) if they don’t take measures to reduce the radiation exposure of flight attendants. On June 11, 2023, the legislation went into effect.