Support for a European Metrology Network on reliable radiation protection: Gaps in radiation protection metrology

The European regulation on ionizing radiation is mainly laid down in the COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2013/59/EURATOM. This Directive implements the basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from exposure to ionizing radiation. Reliable and quality-assured metrology is the basis for fulfilling the legal tasks defined in the EURATOM regulations. To avoid difficulties in practice, the implementation of regulations always needs to consider the metrological implications. To overcome these, the consortium of the EMPIR project 19NET03 supportBSS[1] is currently planning to develop a joint and sustainable European metrology network underpinning radiation protection regulation. This is urgently needed as a single point of contact to overcome all metrological gaps and to add further needs to radiation protection metrology. The final aim of the network is a harmonized, sustainable, coordinated and specialized infrastructure to meet the demands expressed in the COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2013/59/EURATOM and the EURATOM Treaty. Such a metrology network under the umbrella of EURAMET is currently in the founding phase. One important task in the preparation of this network is to identify and to analyse the gaps in the metrological services as well as the research needs related to the services and the stakeholders. The metrological gaps identified up to now exist in 8 areas of interest: 1. Activity standards, 2. Reference fields where the complexity arises due to the new radiation practices and new technological developments, for instance pulsed fields in medical, industrial and technical applications, 3. Are new operational quantities in radiation protection needed? 4. Measuring devices for radiation protection in medical or industry applications of ionizing radiation, i.e. especially suitable for pulsed radiation, 5. Measuring devices for environmental monitoring, i.e. capable of nuclide specific dose determination, 6. Type testing: harmonization of national requirements with international standards (IEC and ISO) and radiation protection legislation 7. Harmonized handling, transmission, storage and availability of measurement data, 8. Education and training needs. This list summarizes the results of the scientific stakeholder workshop and is meant to open a continuous and constructive dialogue on the identified stakeholder needs and gaps in metrology. Acknowledgments: This project 19NET03 supportBSS has received funding from the EMPIR programme co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. 19NET03 supportBSS denotes the EMPIR project reference. (author)