Assessment of the “zero-point”/baseline of the radiation environment around the nuclear power plant in Astravets, Belarus, prior to its operation

The goal with the project is to establish an independent mapping of the radiation environment around the nuclear power plant in Astravets (BelNPP), in both Belarus and later in Lithuania. Measurements are independent in the sense that they are carried out within an established research consortium with project managers at Lund University (project owner: SSM) and participants from Belarus and Russia.

Background measurements of the radiation environment before operation are important for several different reasons, e.g. for creating a baseline of the radiation environment and its variability; in order to later identify diffuse emissions; data to reporting to authorities before/during/after operation; basis for improvements; information to the public; research and development. In the area of north-western Belarus, in addition to naturally occurring radionuclides, there is also a varying amount of anthropogenic radionuclides from various potential sources: Chernobyl fallout, previous discharges from Ignalina, healthcare and research, nuclear weapons tests from the 50s and 60s, whose concentration and presence must be determined before the start of operation of BelNPP. The uniqueness of the project is that all sampling, measurements and analyses are done by the same group with internationally calibrated and standardized instruments, which enables a high degree of reproducibility in the future. The applied methods have been partly developed within the consortium and include different approaches to determine radiation levels and concentration of various radioactive substances in air, soil, watercourses, bioindicators and foodstuffs in the immediate area around the nuclear power plant. In the past, no such extensive mapping has been done in the area (among other things, no detailed analyses have been done regarding the activity concentration of ¹⁴C, and very few measurements of the ³H concentration).

The results of the measurement program provide the opportunity to quantify the dose contributions from the nuclear power plant during its operation and will constitute an important independent source of information for the public as well as other stakeholders. The implementation of the project in 2019 will also include a high degree of training in the methods that will be applied, as a step in harmonizing the work in the area (environmental radiology, radiation protection, emergency preparedness). After the implementation of the measurement program in 2019, one may later, during the entire operating time of the nuclear power plant, return to the same reference locations for follow-up measurements where one compares the future radiation environment with that in 2019.