The measuring concepts and practice for controlling compliance with clearance levels. Possibilities and constraints

The paper presents a comparative analysis of former clearance levels and criteria for clearance and exemption from regulatory control and the new clearance levels and criteria as contained in the Radiation Protection Ordinance amendment bill. The aspects addressed in the concluding summary are the following: A Clearance levels - 1. Clearance levels for surface contamination. 2. Requirements for unrestricted clearance and exemption of metal scrap for recycling. 3. Clearance levels for buildings and building rubble for reuse and recycling. 4. Clearance levels for contaminated sites. - B Clearance criteria - 1. No enhanced requirements in general, no new measuring techniques or procedures required. 2. Liberalisation of measuring requirements hitherto restricted by mandatory application of average values of surface contamination. 3. Despite some more favourable framework conditions, unrestricted clearance of residual materials from fuel element fabrication plants still requires very expensive and painstaking measuring procedures and remains a costly and therefore uneconomical procedure. 4. The new clearance levels for buildings are much more application-appropriate and can be performed more efficiently. 5. The expensive measuring procedure for contaminated sites can be optimized by way of advanced measuring concepts. 6. The obligation to observe mass-specific activity levels and limits in measurements according to paragraph 45 StrlSchV (new) may in certain cases require enhanced measuring efforts. (orig./CB)