Metrology for radiological early warning networks in

ENV57 MetroERM
Publishable JRP Summary Report for ENV57 MetroERM
Metrology for radiological early warning networks in Europe
Background
In event of a major radiological emergency, the early and reliable knowledge of radioactivity concentrations
in air, and subsequently the assessment of contamination levels of farmland and of dose rate levels in urban
areas are key for organising sound countermeasures. Such countermeasures are needed for the protection
of the general public from the dangers arising both from direct external radiation and from intake of
radioactivity from ingestion or inhalation of contaminated food or air.
All European countries operate airborne radioactivity and dose rate early warning networks. There are about
5000 dose rate monitoring stations operational in Europe, which provide hourly data transmission to the
European Radiological Data Exchange Platform (EURDEP) operated by the European Commission.
However, only approximately 250 of these stations are capable of on-line particulate and/or gaseous
airborne monitoring. In most cases, the collected data requires further analysis as neither appropriate
calibration nor corrections for the variety of detector types have been performed. Moreover, due to the
simple detector designs (typically Geiger Muller counters, used in dose rate networks and their pronounced
energy and angular dependent response to gamma radiation) calibration at a single photon of energy is
insufficient to derive correct dose rate data, even if the energy and angular dependencies are known.
This JRP will develop methods for the harmonisation of reported values of both dose rate and airborne
radioactivity concentrations so that data related to the same trans-boundary event measured by different
networks using different detectors are directly comparable. This will allow consistent data collation and
evaluation, which will enable reliable conclusions to be drawn by the responsible authorities. In addition, this
JRP will develop new measurement techniques based on novel spectrometry systems such as LaBr3,
CdZnTe, SrI2 etc, which allow both the calculation of dose rates and the calculation of contamination levels
(i.e. nuclide specific information) at the same time. Therefore these systems will considerably increase the
information content provided by early warning networks, in real-time.
Need for the project
The protection of citizens during a nuclear or radiological emergency is a high priority task for national and
international radiation protection authorities. The basic safety standards for the health protection of the
general public and workers against the dangers of ionising radiation are laid down in the Council Directive
96/29/EURATOM and are mandatory for all EU Member States. In addition, as a direct consequence of the
Chernobyl accident, the Council Decision 87/600/EURATOM requires information exchange in the event of a
nuclear/radiological emergency and this is technically implemented as the European Community Urgent
Radiological Information Exchange System (ECURIE). In case of a major radiological or nuclear incident, the
information collected by EURDEP will be used by the ECURIE system to inform the European Commission
(EC) who will initiate the responses of national authorities to trans-border radioactive contamination events.
The economic and sociological damage caused by a nuclear power plant accident can be disastrous. The
costs due to the large-scale contamination of farmland and the requirements for the decontamination of
urban areas after such accidents are immense, for example the Chernobyl accident cost approximately 400
billion Euros. Therefore, improved metrology for low dose-rate and airborne-contamination measurements
and the determination of contamination levels in real-time will contribute to a reduction in costs due to the
introduction of quick and appropriate countermeasures.
As the quantity of data submitted to the EURDEP database has increased, network operators and metrology
institutes have become more aware of the impact of the current high uncertainties in the area dose rate and
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Public
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airborne radioactivity concentration measurement data. Due to this action on a European scale is required to
address the underlying measurement problems and to try and resolve them.
Scientific and technical objectives
The aim of this JRP is to improve the metrological foundation of measurements (devices and methods) for
monitoring airborne radioactivity and to introduce pan-European harmonisation in data reliability for area
dose rate measurements which are input to the European Radiological Data Exchange Platform (EURDEP)
and other monitoring networks.
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One of the main aims of this project is the fastest possible determination of a potential contamination
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at the kBq m level. Metrologically methods will be developed for the evaluation of correct dose rate
and activity concentration data. Appropriate harmonised calibration procedures for existing
radiological early warning network stations in Europe will also be systematically developed in the
JRP for both dose rate and airborne radioactivity stations.
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In addition, novel traceable reference materials and standard sources will be developed, and
proficiency tests and other comparison exercises will be performed to quantify airborne radioactivity
and dosimetry data at field stations. Monte Carlo simulations of detector responses and benchmark
experiments will be used for the validation of new approaches in environmental radiation monitoring.
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Finally, improved detection methods and data analyses techniques will be developed to enable
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accurate measurements of low activity concentrations of radon (in the range from 300 Bq/m and
below) taking account of the fact that radon contributes to the background responses of many
detector systems.
Moreover, and as a pure scientific application, harmonised area dose rate data will allow investigations into
parameters affecting climate change, e.g. soil moisture, using the Europe-wide dose rate mappings of
EURDEP.
Expected results and potential impact
Within the JRP, novel and improved instrumentation and new measurement techniques and analysis
methods will be developed for field stations of the radiological early warning networks in Europe. The
metrological foundation and particularly, the traceability of measurements carried out at these stations will be
improved significantly, thus addressing the harmonisation of the European early warning networks. The
implementation of these will significantly reduce uncertainties in radiological data from typically a factor of 2
or more to a level of 30 % to 40 % for dosimetric data (at least under reference conditions) and to
uncertainties of less than 20 % to 50 % for off-line air-sampling measurements of radioactivity for the most
relevant radionuclides released during a nuclear power plant accident. New methods to reduce detection
times and lower limits of detection for radioactivity measurements will also be developed. The installation of a
second low dose rate underground calibration laboratory in Europe equipped with a reference calibration
facility will considerably increase the capacity for the investigation and calibration of dosimetry systems at
low dose rates.
The JRP outputs will contribute to the improvement of the quality of dose rate and air borne radioactivity data
derived from the measurements of the 5000 radiological early networks stations in Europe and together with
the new and more sophisticated data analysis methods developed in the JRP will contribute to a faster and
more coordinated response of European authorities in the case of a nuclear emergency. During a
radiological emergency with transboundary implications, the recommendations of the EC to EU Member
States will be based on data from the national early warning networks. Therefore, the quick and reliable
assessment of radioactive contamination and dose rate levels will be key for the effectiveness and
optimisation of countermeasures for the protection of the public health and the environment.
The costs, arising from the large-scale radioactive contamination of farmland and the requirements for the
decontamination of urban areas could be immense but can be considerably reduced by the introduction of
quick and appropriate countermeasures, supported by an adequate determination of real-time contamination
and radiation levels. Greater accuracy in the determination of the extent of land contamination will help to
reduce the area designated for exclusion and evacuation zones. The early estimation of the contamination of
agricultural products will lead to swifter decisions on whether these need to be banned from the market.
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Finally, reliable radiological data from routine measurements are required for achieving credibility and
acceptance of reported data by the public.
JRP start date and duration:
JRP-Coordinator:
Dr Stefan Neumaier, PTB, Germany
JRP website address:
1 June 2014, 36 months
Tel: +49 531 5926320,
E-mail: [email protected]
JRP-Partners:
JRP-Partner 1 PTB, Germany
JRP-Partner 2 CEA, France
JRP-Partner 3 CIEMAT, Spain
JRP-Partner 4 CMI, Czech Republic
JRP-Partner 5 ENEA, Italy
JRP-Partner 6 IFIN-HH, Romania
JRP-Partner 7 IJS, Slovenia
JRP-Partner 8 JRC, European Commission
JRP-Partner 9 NPL, United Kingdom
JRP-Partner 10 SCK•CEN, Belgium
JRP-Partner 11 TAEK, Turkey
JRP-Partner 12 BfS, Germany
JRP-Partner 13 IRSN, France
REG-Researcher 1
(associated Home Organisation):
Alexandros Clouvas
AUTH, Greece
REG-Researcher 2
(associated Home Organisation):
Arturo Vargas
UPC, Spain
The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the
European Union
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