Scope

INES covers events at facilities and activities involving radiation sources. It is used for the rating of events that result in a release of radioactive material into the environment and in the radiation exposure of workers and the public. It is also used for events that have no actual consequences but where the measures put in place to prevent them did not function as intended. The scale is also applied to events involving the loss or theft of radioactive sources and the discovery of uncontrolled radioactive sources in scrap metal. INES should not be used to rate events resulting from procedures where people are intentionally exposed to radiation as part of a medical treatment.

INES is intended for use in non-military applications and only relates to the safety aspects of an event.

INES should not be used to assessing or comparing safety performance between facilities, organizations or countries. It also should not be used to trigger emergency response actions.