Study on monitoring of radioactive discharges from nuclear facilities in the EU : final report

Chapter three of Title II of the Euratom Treaty, Article 35 states: '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'. This study focuses on the facilities that have the authorisation to discharge a significant amount of radioactivity in the environment. With this authorisation, the nuclear facilities are required to have technical systems in place to carry out continuous or batch-wise monitoring of these discharges. During this study, 11 nuclear facilities in nine Member States (covering nuclear power plants with different technologies, a spent fuel reprocessing plant, medical isotope production facilities, and a nuclear plant under dismantling) were visited for a detailed assessment of the monitoring of liquid and gaseous radioactive discharge systems. A detailed technical description outlining the monitoring arrangement for each facility is given in a separate document (Facility Reports). This report provides an overview of the best practices, and underlines suggestions for further development. This report also evaluates the EU countries' annual reporting discharges regarding Recommendation 2004/2/Euratom on radioactive airborne and liquid discharges into the environment from nuclear power reactors and reprocessing plants in normal operation. After a technical assessment of the control and monitoring systems of the liquid and gaseous discharges, the control/monitoring systems were found to be very high quality, while the equipment and laboratories are run by trained and experienced personnel. The study has concluded that the national regulatory framework is adequate, and professionally implemented by licensees while under the Nuclear Safety Authority's scrutiny. The measurement results are subject to international intercomparison as a guarantee of quality.