Topical Day on Monitoring of Radioactivity in the Environment

Oslo 12-13 April 2011

OSPAR Monitoring Programme for Concentrations of Radioactive Substances

in the Marine Environment

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About OSPAR

OSPAR is the mechanism by Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom, as well as the European Community, cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic.

1972 Oslo Convention against dumping.1974 Paris Convention (land-based sources and the offshore industry)1992 OSPAR Convention (unified, up-dated and extended)1998 Annex on biodiversity and ecosystems to cover non-polluting human activities PrinciplesOverall, the work of the OSPAR Commission is guided by the ecosystem approach to an integrated management of human activities in the marine environment. This is supported by a general obligation of Contracting Parties to apply:The precautionary principle; The polluter pays principle; Best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practice (BEP), including clean technology.

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About OSPAR

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OSPAR regions - OSPAR RSC regions

OSPAR RSC regions1. Wider Atlantic, Iberian Coast and Biscay and Channel West2. Channel - Cap de la Hague3. Channel East4. Irish Sea - Rep. of Ireland5. Irish Sea - Northern Ireland6. Irish Sea - Sellafield7. Scottish waters - Dounreay8. North Sea South - Belgian and Dutch Coast9. German Bight10. North Sea - Northwest, Southeast and Central11. North Sea - Skagerrak12. Kattegat13. Norwegian Coastal Current14. Barents Sea15. Norwegian, Greenland Seas and Icelandic Waters

Arctic watersGreater North SeaCeltic SeasBay of Biscay and Iberian CoastWider Atlantic

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OSPAR RSC - Objectives

The OSPAR Commission’s strategic objective with regard to radioactive substances is to prevent pollution of the OSPAR maritime area from ionising radiation (by the year 2020) through progressive and substantial reductions of discharges, emissions and losses of radioactive substances, with the ultimate aim of concentrations in the environment near background values for naturally occurring radioactive substances and close to zero for artificial radioactive substances.

In achieving this objective the following issues should, inter alia, be taken into account: a. radiological impacts on man and biota;b. legitimate uses of the sea;c. technical feasibility.

The aim of the OSPAR RSC monitoring programmme is to provide necessary information to support assessments against the overall aims of the OSPAR RSC strategy

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OSPAR RSC - Monitoring Programme

Based on:• Past and current practices by Contracting Parties• Main contributors to dose• Key radionuclides with regard to discharges

• Anthropogenic radionuclides: H-3, Tc-99, Cs-137 and Pu-239,240• Naturally occurring radionuclides: Po-210, Pb-210, Ra-226, Ra-228

• Environmental compartments: Seawater and biota (seaweed, fish and molluscs)

• Data collected from 1995 onwards (not always data available for every year)

For anthropogenic radionuclides:• 40-50 time series in seawater and biota• Best data coverage for Cs-137

For naturally occuring radionuclides:• Little data available• Few CPs analyse for these…

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OSPAR RSC - Monitoring Programme

Data used for:Comparisons between baseline period (1995 - 2001) + assessment period (2002 - )• Have concentrations gone up, down or stayed the same…• Currently - simple statistical tests (not always possible - MDA data)• Future - trend detection (over entire data period)

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OSPAR RSC - Monitoring Programme

Data used for:Calculation of doses to man and biota and comparison versus…• Man - 1 mSv/yr• Biota - currently ERICA (10 μGy/h) - future ICRP DCRLs for RAPs (40 - 4000 μGy/h)?

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OSPAR RSC - Monitoring Programme

Data used for:Assessments• Currently - Large report every 3-5 years (Periodic evaluations) - Overall report every 10 years (Quality Status Reports)• Future - Indicator sheets every year?

Quality control (analysis)• Laboratory intercomparisons organised by IAEA

Data access Plan to make all data available through IAEA MARiS database

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OSPAR RSC - Monitoring Programme(Hard) Lessons learned

Collection of data and associated metadata has evolved with time…

• Initial data collection efforts did not match ultimate goals

• Development of assessment tools forced data reporting changes

• Metadata reporting requirements changed with time

• Quality assurance

• Data storage

• Product generation from data

Need to anticipate all data reporting requirements and possible uses of data prior to establishing data collection…

Need to generate clear instructions for reporting requirments (should always be included with reporting form)

Need for good quality assurance routines