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- What are electromagnetic fields?
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Verification of licensee's monitoring of radioactive effluents from nuclear installations
- The BfS verifies the reliability and quality of the licensee’s monitoring of radioactive effluents by operators of nuclear installations.
- Key instruments for quality assurance are a control measurement programme and proficiency tests. It is mandatory for the operators of nuclear installations or for their contracted measurement laboratories to participate in these proficiency tests.
For more than 30 years, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) and its predecessor authority respectively, have been verifying the reliability and quality of the licensee’s monitoring of radioactive effluents by operatorsof nuclear installations.
Instruments for quality assurance
Key instruments for quality assurance are a control measurement programme and proficiency tests. To this end, the BfS carries out random control measurements according to § 103 (4) Radiation Protection Ordinance.
Control measurement programme
All samples used for assessment are submitted to the BfS by the operators. The BfS selects randomly selects samples among those submitted samples according to the guideline "Verification of the Licensee's Monitoring of Radioactive Effluents from Nuclear Power Plants", (see table) and carries out its own activity determinations.
Radionuclide / radionuclide group | Frequency and type of control measurement for each nuclear power plant |
---|---|
Exhaust air- | |
gamma emitters | 10 per cent of the weekly samples |
iodine isotopes | 10 per cent of the weekly samples |
strontium isotopes | 4 quarterly mixed samples |
alpha emitters | 4 quarterly mixed samples |
carbon-14 | at least 1 quarterly mixed sample |
tritium | at least 1 quarterly mixed sample |
radioactive noble gases | on-site comparative measurements every three years |
Waste water- | |
gamma emitters | 8 - 9 weekly mixed samples |
strontium isotopes | 1 quarterly mixed sample |
total alpha | 1 quarterly mixed sample |
tritium | 1 quarterly mixed sample |
iron-55 / nickel-63 | 1 annual mixed sample |
Proficiency Tests
Supported by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB, National Metrology Institute of Germany), the BfS organises an annual
- proficiency test "exhaust air" for measuring the activity of selected radionuclides on standard filter preparations as well as (see figure "exhaust air sample prepared for measurement")
- proficiency test "waste water" for determining the radionuclide composition of a model waste water sample from a nuclear installation (see figure "waste water samples prepared for interlaboratory comparison measurements").
Additionally, proficiency tests for tritium and carbon-14 on molecular sieve samples are carried out in irregular intervals in the field of “exhaust air”.
It is mandatory for the operators of nuclear installations or for their contracted measurement laboratories to participate in these proficiency tests.
The proficiency tests allow for the objective evaluation of the quality of the measurement values determined in the framework of licensee's monitoring.
In recent years, the participation of international measurement laboratories has increased.
If you are interested in the proficiency test of the BfS, you can register by e-mail:
- for exhaust air: leitstelle-fortluft@bfs.de
- for waste water: leitstelle-h@bfs.de.
Expert talks
Expert talks in the fields of "exhaust air" and "waste water" are held regularly by the BfS. The operators of nuclear installations and the competent supervisory authorities participate in the talks.
At the talks, the BfS provides information on current problems identified during control measurements or proficiency tests and discusses them in the plenary. Furthermore, expert talks are a significant contribution to communicating the state of the art of science and technology in the field of emission monitoring.
State of 2023.06.19