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2nd MetroNORM Workshop, IST/CTN, Lisbon, 11-12 March 2015
The EMRP IND57 JRP
“MetroNORM - Metrology for processing
materials with high natural radioactivity”
Science • Technology • Impact
Franz Josef Maringer
Industrial branches affected:
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Extraction of rare earths
Niobium / tantalum ore processing
TiO2 pigment production
Oil, natural gas and coal industry
Phosphate industry - thermal phosphorous, phosphoric acid,
phosphate fertilizers
Building material & cement industry
Water industry, ground water filtration, drinking water
production
Tin foundries, tin / lead / copper smelting
Recycling industry
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© World Nuclear Association
Radionuclides affected:
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Problems related to end-user NORM measurements
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Big variation of materials / components / matrices
Disequilibrium in decay chains
Many radionuclides / many gamma peaks in one sample / spectra
High level of expertise & instrumentations / technologies required
e.g. Ge(HP), alpha spectrometry
• Need of fast measurement results for taking fast decisions e.g.
compliance of raw material feed in an industrial process
• Inclusion of measurement / sampling uncertainties to the
compliance decision process
e.g. a (± u(a))? < alimit or conservative assessment of a
→ Bq | Bq/kg | Bq/m³ | Bq/m²
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Metrological challenges in NORM
radionuclide metrology
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Decay chains radionuclides of processed NORM are rarely in radioactive
equilibrium
Some natural radionuclides have no gamma emission or very weak emission
probability (e.g. Th-232, U-238, U-234, …)
Some radionuclides need alpha spectrometry with sample preparation
Inhomogeneity of raw (and sometimes processed) NORM
Samples with high Z and very specific elementary composition
Monte Carlo simulations (Penelope, Gespecor, GEANT, ETNA, …) are
necessary to calculate εp and εt resp. Ksummcoinc
Additional to radiometry – element composition analysis is necessary
Target relative standard uncertainties of activity values: lower than ±10 %
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EMRP IND57 MetroNORM:
scientific and technological objectives
JRP period: 1 September 2013 – 31 August 2016
• Development of measurement systems, methods and technique
including in-situ systems which support innovative industrial
processing of resources containing naturally occurring radioactive
material. → total rel. uncertainties lower than 10% (k=1)
• Design of traceable measurement procedures (as input to e.g.
CEN/ CENELEC standards) for industrial NORM raw material,
products, by-products, residues and waste.
• Development and establishment of traceable metrological reference
materials and standard sources needed for calibration purposes for
NORM measurement. → total rel. uncertainties lower than 10% (k=1)
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EMRP IND57 MetroNORM:
scientific and technological objectives
• Improvements to decay data for selected natural radionuclides of
the 238U, 235U decay chains, and to the rare earth element 138La,
focusing on decay chains description and gamma-ray intensities
and half-life improvement:
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238U
series: solving of discrepancies in decay scheme data
235U series: improved decay schemes
238U series and 235U series: gamma
232Th series: improved decay schemes
138La: standardisation
• Testing of developed systems, standards and reference materials
in industrial processing situations.
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MetroNORM Partners & Network
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NORM measurement demanded by
Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM
• Article 2 SCOPE:
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2. This directive applies in particular to:
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(c) human activities which involve the presence of natural radiation
sources that lead to a significant increase in the exposure of workers or
members of the public, in particular:
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(ii) the processing of materials with naturally-occurring radionuclides;
(d) the exposure of workers or members of the public to indoor radon,
the external exposure from building materials and cases of lasting
exposure resulting from the after-effects of an emergency or a past
human activity.
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EU Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM:
NORM measurements
• Regulatory control (Art. 23 ff)
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Notification
Exemption from notification
Registration / Licensing
Release from regulatory control
• Occupational exposure (Art. 31 ff)
– Workers / classification / individual monitoring - internal exposure
– Workplaces / classification / surveillance
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Radon in workplaces (Art. 54)
RL: 300 Bq/m³
Indoor exposure to radon (Art. 74)
Gamma radiation from building materials (Art. 75)
Radon action plan (Art. 103)
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ANNEX VII
Exemption and clearance criteria as referred to in Articles 24, 26 and 30
E < 1 mSv / year ⇒
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ANNEX VIII
Definition and use of the activity concentration index for the gamma
radiation emitted by building materials as referred to in Article 75
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The impact of MetroNORM:
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Improved NORM end-user laboratory / in-situ measurements
Metrological traceability of NORM measurements instruments
Traceable NORM reference materials and sources
Appropriate decay parameters of natural radionuclides
Correct evaluation of NORM measurement uncertainties
Enhanced quality management for NORM measurements
• Improved NMI / DI services for NORM end-users:
– instrument calibration
– Type approval & legal verification
– methods validation (EN ISO/IEC 17025)
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International Committee for
Radionuclide Metrology
Activites & networking in:
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Aspects of international metrology
Measurement standards and reference
materials
Alpha-particle and beta-particle spectrometry
Gamma-ray spectrometry
Nuclear decay data
Radionuclide metrology in life sciences
Source preparation techniques
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Intercomparisons
Radionuclide metrology techniques
Alpha-particle and beta-particle spectrometry
Liquid scintillation counting techniques
Low-level radioactivity measurement techniques
Radionuclide metrology in life sciences
Quality assurance and uncertainty evaluation
in radioactivity measurements
20th International Conference on
Radionuclide Metrology and its Applications
BEV & BOKU & TU, Vienna, Austria
8-11 June 2015
http://icrm2015.at
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