Radiation Safety
Ionising Radiation in the Environment and Radon
A programme in environmental radiation monitoring: sources of natural and artificial radionuclides in the environment and background radiation, designing monitoring programmes with the data quality objectives process, surveying and sampling, exposure pathways and dose assessment, and the radon cycle in the environment, its measurement and the management of its risks.
Overview
About the programme
Duration
5 days
Training hours
25 hours
Delivery
Training hall · Virtual · At your premises
Language
Arabic or English
Objectives
Training outcomes
- Understand the types and sources of radionuclides in the environment, and background radiation and its importance in monitoring.
- Design an environmental radiation monitoring programme to characterise a site using the data quality objectives (DQO) process.
- Select radiation survey methods and methods for collecting and preserving environmental samples.
- Assess doses from the different exposure pathways by combining measurements and modelling.
- Measure radon in indoor air and water, estimate its doses, and compare results with reference levels.
- Classify risks and prepare an action plan for the workplace.
Content
What the programme covers
Day 1: Foundations
- Radiation basics and units: activity, absorbed dose and effective dose.
- Natural radionuclides: the uranium-238 and thorium-232 series, potassium-40 and cosmogenic radionuclides.
- Artificial radionuclides in the environment and their sources.
- Background radiation and its geographical variation.
Day 2: monitoring programmes
- Purposes of environmental monitoring programmes: pre-operational, routine and emergency monitoring.
- The data quality objectives (DQO) process and its use in site characterisation.
- Radiation surveys: ambient dose rate and portable spectrometric surveys.
- Collecting and preserving air, water, soil, sediment and food samples, and chain of custody.
Day 3: exposure pathways and doses
- Exposure pathways: external exposure, inhalation and ingestion.
- Dose conversion coefficients and assessing the effective dose to members of the public.
- Combining environmental measurements and mathematical modelling in dose assessment.
- Radioactive elements in groundwater and their risks, and the screening levels for drinking water in the World Health Organization guidelines.
Day 4: radon
- The radon cycle in the environment: generation in soils and rocks, exhalation, accumulation indoors and dissolution in groundwater.
- Radon progeny and the equilibrium factor, and dose assessment.
- Measurement methods: track-etch detectors, electret ion chambers, continuous monitors, activated charcoal and the measurement of radon in water.
- Reference levels in the International Atomic Energy Agency standards (GSR Part 3) and its guide SSG-32, the level recommended by the World Health Organization, and mitigation in buildings.
Day 5: risks and the action plan
- Classifying and assessing the risks arising from radionuclides in the environment.
- Naturally occurring radioactive waste: its sources, environmental risks and principles of management.
- The national framework: the role of the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission.
- Each participant prepares an action plan, followed by the assessment.
Who it is for
Target audience
Bodies responsible for environmental monitoring, bodies responsible for the security of industrial facilities where radiation incidents may arise, teams that carry out environmental radiation monitoring, and researchers interested in environmental measurements.
Method
Delivery method
Workshops, discussion sessions, case studies and calculation exercises on real monitoring data, with a presentation of survey instruments and radon measurement. Each participant designs an action plan for their organisation. Delivered in Arabic or English.
Questions
FAQ
How does it differ from Handling NORM?
The NORM programme is for industrial facilities where naturally occurring radioactive material concentrates, and covers managing its scales and waste. This programme is about environmental monitoring: designing monitoring programmes, sampling, assessing doses to the public, and radon in buildings and water.
Does the programme include practical measurements?
It includes a presentation of survey instruments and radon measurement methods and exercises on real data. Field measurements with the organisation’s instruments can be added if the programme is delivered at its site.
Is there a certificate?
Every participant who attends the programme and passes the assessment receives a certificate of completion from Technology Experts Training Center, licensed by the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation.
A programme tailored to your organisation
The duration and topics of the programme are adjusted to the organisation's needs, and it is delivered at its site, in a training hall arranged by the Center, or virtually.