Euratom monitoring and Article 35 verifications

Topical Day on monitoring of radioactivity in the environment

Oslo 12-13 April 2011

Euratom monitoring and Article 35 verifications

Vesa Tanner

European CommissionDG Energy

Radiation Protection Unit



DG Energy (ENER) Directorates

A. General PolicyB. Security of supply, Energy markets and NetworksC. New and renewable sources of energy, Energy efficiency

and InnovationD. Nuclear energyE. Nuclear safeguards

As of 14 April 2010



Directorate D (Nuclear Energy)

D.1: EURATOM co-ordination, international relations D.2: Nuclear Energy, waste management D.3: Nuclear accountancy D.4: Radiation protection

Sector D.4.001: „Implementation of EURATOM Articles 35 and 36 “ (includes Article 35 verifications)



Legal background (1)

Art. 35 Euratom Treaty: “Each Member State shall establish the facilities necessary to

carry out continuous monitoring of the level of radioactivity in the air, water and soil and to ensure compliance with the basic standards.”

“The Commission shall have the right of access to such facilities; it may verify their operation and efficiency.”

DG ENER – Radiation Protection unit has the responsibility of undertaking these verifications.

Historically, the intensity of the verification activity has been a matter of Commission current policy.



Commission Communication* and Bilateral Protocols deal with the practical arrangements of verification visits:ApplicabilityScopeGuiding PrinciplesPlanning of VisitsRealisation of VisitsProcedure of Reporting

* ES: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2006:155:0002:0005:ES:PDF

Legal background (2)



General scope and purpose (1)

Verification visits can cover:

(1) environmental radiation monitoring of Air Dose and dose rate Water (drinking, ground, marine, inland, precipitation, …) Soil Fallout Biological samples (marine/terrestrial) Foodstuffs (individual samples, mixed diet, milk, wild food

products) Feed

(2) monitoring of radioactive discharges to the environment (liquid, gaseous)




Verification visits can cover: National monitoring systems (on-line and off-line) Nuclear power plants Nuclear fuel cycle installations Radioactive isotope production plants Hospitals using radioactive isotopes Current and past mining activities NORM activities Research facilities Decommissioning projects




The main purpose is to provide an independent assessment on the adequacy of the monitoring facilities

Verification visits should allow a correct evaluation and a judgement of the:

Operation of monitoring facilities (their set-up and use)Suitability of sampling and sample preparation methodsSuitability of analytical methods, effectiveness of equipmentManagement of records, results, archivesData handling and reporting proceduresQuality control measures



Targets

Verification visits of installations are split into: discharge monitoring with regard to aerial and liquid

effluents, and site-specific environmental monitoring, as performed by the

operator and by or on behalf of the regulator

Verification visits of national monitoring systems give an overview of

country-wide automatic and laboratory based networks emergency monitoring arrangements



Reporting by the Commission

1. Draft technical report (in one of the working languages of the European Commission)

2. Checking of factual accuracy by the Member State (groups involved in verification)

3. Finalisation of technical report by the Commission, sent to MS via Permanent Representation

4. Main findings report by the Commission, sent to MS5. Translation into the MS language if needed, sent to MS for

checking language6. Publication of main findings, technical report and any MS

comments on the Europa web site

A general report on the whole programme is prepared for the European Parliament on a regular basis.



Planning of visits – Considerations

Visit ‘new’ EU Member States in a timely manner Provide follow-up to past visits; in particular if actions were

recommended Continue to cover major nuclear activities in all Member

States Act in case of (public) concerns Seek a balance between large nuclear facilities and

national networks



Usual feedback items (1)

Frequency of foodstuffs sampling Density of automatic monitoring networks Rain and grass sampling Laboratory hardware and software Laboratory accreditations and quality systems Availability of expertise for online monitoring and database

management Long term continuity of the monitoring programmes of past

activities



Usual feedback items (2) Lack of discharge monitoring in medical facilities Public availability of results Sample and results archiving Sample management in laboratories Inadequate number of personnel (especially for

emergency situations) Lack of in-house expertise in radiation measurements

(measurements outsourced to another country)



Recent verification visits (1)

Reports of the recent verification visits can be downloaded from the Radiation Protection web site on the EUROPA server:

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/nuclear/radiation_protection/article_35_en.htm

This includes the Technical Report, the Main Findings and any Comments by the Member State in which the verification visit took place. Generally these reports are in the language of the Member State as well as in English.



Denmark 2008


Tricastin site (FR) 2008

Romania Uraniumproduction 2008




Forsmark (Sweden) 2009

IRE-Fleurus (Belgium) 2009



Isar-2 (Germany) 2009

Jaslovske Bohunice (Slovakia) 2009




Świerk (Poland) 2009

Bulgaria (former uranium mining issues)

2009




Huelva (Spain) 2009




The Article 35 Team

Eberhardt Henrich

Remigiusz Baranczyk Vesa Tanner

Alan RyanConstant Gitzinger

Cecile HanotStefan Mundigl

•Three full-time EC officials

•Four part-time EC officials

•Detached national experts needed, hard to find

Euratom monitoring and Article 35 verifications

Documents

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