EUROPEAN ATLAS OF
NATURAL RADIATION
EUROPEAN ATLAS OF
NATURAL RADIATION
European Atlas of Natural Radiation | Preamble
2
Preamble
Publication details
To refer to this 1st edition of the European Atlas of Natural Radiation please cite as follows:
Cinelli, G., De Cort, M. & Tollefsen, T. (Eds.), European Atlas of Natural Radiation, Publication Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2019.
The full version of this atlas will be available online at:
https://remon.jrc.ec.europa.eu/About/Atlas-of-Natural-Radiation This URL gives access to the index and leads to an interactive map interface where map layers compiled using the convergence of evidence concept can be interrogated.
Individual pages in this atlas contain QR codes which, when scanned, bring the reader to the exact online location to access the related page content.
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019.
© European Union, 2019.
Copyright notice and disclaimer
© European Union, 2019
The information and views set out in this book are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39).
Reuse is authorised, provided the source of the document is acknowledged and its original meaning or message is not distorted. The Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse of this publication.
Reuse of photos/figures/diagrams/data with source: EANR, EC- JRC, 2019 is authorised.
For reuse of photos/figures/diagrams/data of a third-party source (i.e. any other than EANR, EC-JRC, 2019), permissions must be sought directly from the source.
Sources are indicated throughout the Atlas by: Source:
[identification of the source].
Published by the Publications Office of the European Union, L-2995 Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
European Atlas of Natural Radiation Printed version
ISBN 978-92-76-08259-0 doi:10.2760/520053
Catalogue number KJ-02-19-425-EN-C Online version
ISBN 978-92-76-08258-3 doi:10.2760/46388
Catalogue number KJ-02-19-425-EN-N 2019 – 190 pp. – 30.1 × 42.4 cm Printed by Bietlot in Belgium
Printed on elemental chlorine-free bleached paper (ECF).
Cartographic Representations
Underlying cartographic features depicted on the maps in this atlas are derived from the Digital Chart of the World and Lovell Johns Cartographic Base. These data do not have any explicit legal status; hence, no legal aspects should be derived from the information depicted on any of the maps in this publication.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Chart_of_the_World www.lovelljohns.com
Due to the resolution of the underlying data which is often still too large to represent small islands, the maps represented in this atlas might not or not always represent a number of small Pacific islands. These are included in the interactive online version when provided in the datasets.
All the maps are represented according to the Robinson projection.
Disclaimer of Liability
This is a publication of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of this publication. For information on the methodology and quality underlying the data used in this publication for which the source is neither Eurostat nor other Commission services, users should contact the referenced source. The designations employed and the presentation of material on the maps do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the European Union concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Design and graphic support
Final design and graphic support by Lovell Johns Limited, 10 Hanborough Business Park, Long Hanborough, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX29 8RU, United Kingdom.
http://www.lovelljohns.com
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH EU In person
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Acknowledgements
The European Atlas of Natural Radiation (EANR) is the result of fruitful collaborations between more than 100 experts from national and international institutions, universities and research centres around Europe. We acknowledge all of the contributing Authors and Reviewers: without their contributions, support and encouragement this publication would not have been possible.
We would like to thank the Advisory Committee, Valeria Gruber and Peter Bossew, for having worked from the begin of the project with constant passion and dedication as well as Gregoire Dubois, who, as one of the founders of the Atlas project, did invaluable work to explore and develop the concept and establishing a European network of institutions and experts.
Two head of units, Franck Wastin and Willem Janssens are acknowledged for their managerial support to the project.
We also would like to express our great thanks to the JRC Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring group (JRC, Ispra), in particular Luca De Felice, Konstantins Bogučarskis, Stefano Vanzo, Pier Valerio Tognoli and Daniel Jianu for their constant assistance in technical issues and in developing the EANR website. Also, for providing support, we acknowledge Elena Moneta, Fanny May and Gabriele Tamborini.
Our special thanks go to Ian Dewsbery from Lovell Johns Ltd. (UK) for his professional guidance in graphic design and cartography, for keeping our scientific, sometimes over- enthusiastic, ideas within publication limits and for turning these into an attractive and modern-looking atlas. William Adnams gave his expertise in GIS/cartographic matters, Clare Varney provided graphical assistance and Symon Porteous for smoothing out the contractual details.
The EU Publications Office and the JRC Central IP Service are acknowledged for their assistance and guidance.
The topic of natural radiation is of great significance to the scientific community, population and national authorities; the latter are thanked for their support and for their agreement on the final version of the maps. We apologise for any unintentional omissions, it is impossible to credit all people who give their direct or indirect contribution.
This QR code points to the full online version of the Atlas, where the most updated content may be freely accessed
The Editorial Board (Marc, Giorgia and Tore) pictured at JRC, Ispra.
Source: EANR, EC-JRC, 2019.
Preamble | European Atlas of Natural Radiation
3 Contributors
Editorial Board
Cinelli, Giorgia European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy De Cort, Marc European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Tollefsen, Tore European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
Advisory Committee
Bossew, Peter German Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Berlin, Germany
Gruber, Valeria Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Department for Radon and Radioecology, Linz, Austria
Contributing Authors
Achatz, Michaela German Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Berlin, Germany Ajtić, Jelena Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia Ballabio, Cristiano European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Barnet, Ivan Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic
Borelli, Pasquale Environmental Geosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Bossew, Peter German Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Berlin, Germany Brattich, Erika Department of Physics and Astronomy, Alma Mater Studiorum University
of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Briganti, Alessandra Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy Castelluccio, Mauro Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy Chiaberto, Enrico Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment, Piemonte, Italy Cinelli, Giorgia European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Ciotoli, Giancarlo National Research Council, Rome, Italy
Coletti, Chiara Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy Cucchi, Anselmo Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment, Piemonte, , Italy Daraktchieva, Zornitza Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health
England, Chilton, UK
De Cort, Marc European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
Domingos, Filipa Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Dudar, Tamara Department of Environmental Studies, National Aviation University, Kiev,
Ukraine
Elío, Javier Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Falletti, Paolo Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment, Piemonte, Italy Ferreira, Antonio British Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK
Finne, Ingvild Engen Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Østerås, Norway Fuente Merino, Ismael University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
Galli, Gianfranco Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy García-Talavera, Marta Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, Madrid, Spain
Gruber, Valeria Department for Radon and Radioecology, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Linz, Austria
Gutiérrez Villanueva, José-Luis Radonova Laboratories, Uppsala, Sweden
Hernandez Ceballos, Miguel Angel European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Hoffmann, Marcus Radon Competence Centre, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of
Southern Switzerland, Canobbio, Switzerland
Iurlaro, Giorgia Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Ispra, Italy
Ivanova, Kremena National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Sofia, Bulgaria Jones, Arwyn European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
Kovalenko, Grygoriy Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Ecological Problems, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Kozak, Krzysztof Institute of Nuclear Physics IFJ-PAN, Krakow, Poland Lawley, Russell British Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK
Lehné, Rouwen Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology, Darmstadt, Germany
Lister, Bob British Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK Long, Stephanie Environmental Protection Agency, Dublin, Ireland Lucchetti, Carlo Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy Magnoni, Mauro Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment, Piemonte, Italy
Matolin, Milan Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic Mazur, Jadwiga Institute of Nuclear Physics IFJ-PAN, Krakow, Poland Mazzoli, Claudio Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy Mollo, Mara Mara Mollo Total Consulting, Vercelli, Italy
Mostacci, Domiziano Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Mundigl, Stefan Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Unit, European Commission, Directorate-General Energy, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Nesbor, Dieter Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology, Darmstadt, Germany
Neves, Luis Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Nikolov, Jovana Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics, University of Novi Sad, Novi
Sad, Serbia
Nogarotto, Alessio University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Onischenko, Aleksandra Institute of Industrial Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Orgiazzi, Alberto European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Pacherová, Petra Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic Panagos, Panos European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
Pereira, Alcides Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Pokalyuk, Vladimir Institute of Environmental Geochemistry, National Academy of Sciences
of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
Quindós Poncela, Luis Santiago University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
Sassi, Raffaele Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy Smedley, Pauline British Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK
Soligo, Michele Department of Sciences, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy Stoulos, Stylianos Nuclear Physics Laboratory, Aristotle University Thessaloniki,
Thessaloniki, Greece
Szabó, Katalin Nuclear Security Department, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary
Täht-Kok, Krista Geological Survey of Estonia, Tallinn, Estonia
Todorović, Nataša Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
Tollefsen, Tore European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Tuccimei, Paola Department of Sciences, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy Turtiainen, Tuukka Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Helsinki, Finland Tye, Andrew British Geological Survey, Keyworth, UK
Udovičić, Vladimir Institute of Physics, Belgrade, Serbia
Vasilyev, Aleksey Institute of Industrial Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Verdelocco, Stefania Conseil et Etude en Radioprotection, Ispra, Italy
Verkhovtsev, Valentyn Institute of Environmental Geochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
Voltaggio, Mario Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, National Research Council, Rome, Italy
Zhukova, Olga Republican Centre for Hydrometeorology, Control of Radioactive Contamination, and Environmental Monitoring, Minsk, Belarus Zhukovsky, Michael Institute of Industrial Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Ekaterinburg, Russia
Reviewers
Bochicchio, Francesco National Center for Radiation Protection and Computational Physics – Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
Braga, Roberto Uiversita' of Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali Bologna, Italy
Carpentieri, Carmela National Center for Radiation Protection and Computational Physics – Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
Castellani, Carlo Maria Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Bologna, Italy
Christian, Di Carlo National Center for Radiation Protection and Computational Physics – Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
De France, Jennifer World Health Organization, Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, Geneva,Switzerland
Dehandschutter, Boris Federal Agency for Nuclear Control, Bruxelles, Belgium Elío, Javier Geology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland Fontana, Claudia Centro di ricerca Agricoltura e Ambiente, Rome, Italy
German, Olga International Atomic Energy Agency, Radiation Safety and Monitoring Section, Vienna, Austria
Grossi, Claudia Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Gruber, Valeria Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety Department for Radon and Radioecology, Linz, Austria
Hernandez-Ceballos, Miguel Angel European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Iurlaro, Giorgia Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable
Economic Development, Ispra, Italy
Jobbagy, Viktor European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Geel, Belgium Matolin, Milan Charles University, Faculty of Science, Institute of Hydrogeology,
Engineering Geology and Applied Geophysics , Prague, Czech Republic McLaughlin, James School of Physics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland Mundigl, Stefan European Commission, Directorate-General Energy, Radiation Protection
and Nuclear Safety Unit, Luxembourg, Luxembourg Neznal, Matej RADON v.o.s., Prague, Czech Republic
Perez, Maria Del Rosario World Health Organization, Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, Geneva, Switzerland
Rossi, Francois European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Petten, Netherlands Sangiorgi, Marco European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy Simic, Zdenko European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Petten, Netherlands Socciarelli, Silvia Centro di ricerca Agricoltura e Ambiente, Rome, Italy
Tolton, Richelle International Atomic Energy Agency, Radiation Safety and Monitoring Section, Vienna, Austria
Venoso, Gennaro National Center for Radiation Protection and Computational Physics – Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
The European Radon Association (ERA) (http://radoneurope.org/) contributed by writing the summary for each chapter. The following ERA-members are acknowledged:
Dehandschutter, Boris Federal Agency for Nuclear Control, Bruxelles, Belgium Gutierrez, Villanueva Jose Luis Radonova Laboratories, Uppsala, Sweden Hansen, Maria GM Scientific, Bristol, UK
Hurst, Stephanie Saxon state ministry of the environment and agriculture Radiation Protection, Genetic Engineering, Chemicals, Dresden Germany Kozak, Krzysztof Institute of Nuclear Physics IFJ-PAN, Krakow, Poland Mazur, Jadwiga Institute of Nuclear Physics IFJ-PAN, Krakow, Poland
McLaughlin, James University College Dublin School of Physics Dublin, Dublin, Ireland Nilsson, Per Driftwood consulting, Visby, Sweden
Pressyanov, Dobromir University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
Ringer, Wolfang Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety Department for Radon and Radioecology, Linz, Austria
Udovicic, Vladimir Institute of Physics, Belgrade, Serbia
European Atlas of Natural Radiation | Preamble
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Preamble
Preamble 2
Publication details 2
Contributors 3
Foreword 9
Chapter I – Rationale 10
1.1 Introduction 12
1.2 Legal basis and requirements on protection from exposure to natural radiation sources 14
Chapter 2 – General background information 16
2.1 Radiation physics 18
2.1.1 Different kinds of radiation 18
2.1.2 Biological effects of ionising radiation 20
2.2 Sources of radiation 21
2.2.1 Natural sources of radiation 21
2.2.2 Radon 26
2.2.3 Environmental and exposure pathways 31
2.2.4 Radiation dosage chart 32
2.2.5 Case study: Ukraine 34
2.3 Geology 35
2.3.1 Geological influence on radiation 35
2.3.2 Simplified description of European geology 37
Case study: Simplified description of the Ukrainian geology 40
2.3.3 Simplified description of European soil 41
2.4 Statistics, measurement, mapping 44
2.4.0 From sampling to mapping 44
2.4.1 Observed and observation process 44
2.4.2 Accuracy, precision and representativeness 44
2.4.3 Scale, coverage, resolution and precision 45
2.4.4 Geometry of point samples 47
2.4.5 Network and survey design 49
2.4.6 Mapping 50
2.4.7 Interpretation, documentation, quality assurance 51
Case study: Soil-gas survey design 52
2.5 Measurements methods 54
2.5.1 Introduction 54
2.5.2 Gamma, alpha and beta particles detection 54
2.5.3 Spectrometric analysis 55
2.5.4 Radon measurements 57
Chapter 3 – Terrestrial radionuclides 58
3.1 Uranium 60
3.1.1 Uranium in rock-forming minerals 60
3.1.2 Uranium in the soil – plant system 61
3.1.3 Natural exposure to uranium by biota 61
3.1.4 European map of uranium concentration in topsoil 62
Plate 1: Map of estimated total concentration of uranium in topsoil over Europe 66
Contents
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3.2 Thorium 69
3.2.1 Thorium in rock minerals 69
3.2.2 Thorium in the soil – plant system 69
3.2.3 Natural exposure to thorium by biota 69
3.2.4 European map of thorium concentration in topsoil 69
Plate 2: Map of estimated total concentration of thorium in topsoil over Europe 74
3.3 Potassium 77
3.3.1 Potassium in rock minerals 77
3.3.2 Potassium in the soil – plant system 77
3.3.3 Natural exposure to potassium by biota 77
3.3.4 European map of potassium concentration in topsoil 78
Plate 3: Map of estimated total concentration of K2O in topsoil over Europe 80
3.4 European maps of uranium, thorium and potassium concentration in bedrock 84
3.4.1 Discussion and conclusions 86
Chapter 4 – Terrestrial radiation 88
4.1 Source of terrestrial natural radiation 90
4.1.1 Radioactivity properties of K, Th and U 90
4.1.2 Radioactivity as a function of rock type 90
4.1.3 Terrestrial gamma rays in the environment 91
4.2 Dose rate 91
4.2.1 Ambient dose rate 91
4.2.2 Components of the ambient dose rate signal and its decomposition 92
4.2.3 Variability of natural terrestrial dose rate 92
4.2.4 Variability of dose rate from nuclear fallout 93
4.3 Materials and methods 94
4.3.1 Dose rate in geophysical research 94
4.3.2 Dose rate calculation from geochemical data 95
4.3.3 Dose rate in the EURDEP system 95
4.3.4 New technical developments 98
4.4 Terrestrial dose rate mapping 99
4.4.1 General overview 99
4.4.2 European Terrestrial Gamma Dose Rate Map 100
4.4.3 Work in progress: Using EURDEP data to map terrestrial gamma dose rate 101
Plate 4: European Terrestrial Gamma Dose Rate Map 102
Plate 5: European Annual Terrestrial Gamma Dose Map 104
Case study: Piedmont (Italy), soil and rock samples 106
Chapter 5 – Radon 108
Radon, 'From Rock to Risk' – The geogenic compartment 110
5.1 Radon in soil gas 112
5.1.1 Introduction 112
5.1.2 Measurement methods 113
5.1.3 Applications 115
5.1.4 Challenges to developing a European map 118
5.2 Radon exhalation rate 118
5.2.1 Introduction 118
European Atlas of Natural Radiation | Preamble
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Preamble
5.2.2 Measurement methods 118
5.2.3 Application: Proposal for a classification scheme for building materials based on radon and thoron exhalation rates 120
5.3.4 Challenges to developing a European map 120
Case study: Radon exhalation measurements in the laboratory 121
5.3 Outdoor radon 122
5.3.1 Introduction 122
5.3.2 Measurement methods 122
5.3.3 Applications 123
5.3.4 Challenges to developing a European map 124
Case study: Continuous monitoring of outdoor radon 125
5.4 Indoor radon 126
5.4.1 Introduction 126
5.4.2 Materials and methods for indoor radon measurements 126
5.4.3 The European Indoor Radon Map 129
Plate 6: European Indoor Radon Map: Number of measurements per grid cell 130
Plate 7: European Indoor Radon Map: Indoor radon concentration. Arithmetic means per grid cell 132
5.4.4 How can the dose due to radon be estimated? 135
Case study: Radon measurements in large buildings 137
Chapter 6 – Radionuclides in water and river sediments 138
6.1 Introduction 140
6.2 Natural radionuclides in ground and surface water 140
6.2.1 Radon 140
6.2.2 Radium 141
6.2.3 Uranium 141
6.2.4 Thorium 142
6.2.5 Lead and polonium 142
6.2.6 Tritium 142
6.3 Measurement methods 142
6.3.1 Introduction 142
6.3.2 Sampling of water and sample pre-treatment 142
6.3.3 Determination of gross alpha/beta activities 143
6.3.4 Measurement methods for uranium and its daughter radioisotopes 144
6.3.5 Radon 144
6.3.6 Measurement methods for tritium 145
6.3.7 Radionuclides in river sediments 145
6.4 Activity concentration of natural radionuclides in water 145
6.5 Applications 147
6.5.1 Introduction 147
6.5.2 Ground water dating 147
6.5.3 Ground water flux 147
6.5.4 Ground water provenance and processes 147
6.5.5 Sedimentation rates 147
6.6 Challenges to improving radioactivity measurements in water and developing a European map 147
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Chapter 7 - Radionuclides in food 148
7.1 Materials and methods 150
7.1.1 Natural radiocativity in food 150
7.1.2 Measurement of natural radionuclides in food 151
7.1.3 Activity concentration of natural radionuclides in food 152
7.2 Applications 154
7.2.1 Dose calculation 154
7.2.2. Example of dose assessment of public exposure for food ingestion 156
7.3 Discussion and conclusions 156
Chapter 8 – Cosmic radiation and cosmogenic radionuclides 158
8.1 Cosmic-ray dose map 161
8.1.1. Introduction 161
8.1.2. Materials and methods 161
Plate 8: The European Annual Cosmic-Ray Dose Map 162
8.1.3. Discussion and conclusions 164
8.2 Cosmogenic radionuclides 165
8.2.1. Introduction 165
8.2.2. Environmental applications 165
8.2.3. Databases 166
8.2.4. An overview of research activities on beryllium-7 166
8.2.5. Conclusions 168
Case study: An overview of beryllium-7 concentrations in Europe in 2006 169
Chapter 9 – Annual effective dose from natural environmental radiation 170
9.1 Introduction 172
9.2 Materials and methods 172
9.2.1 Dose calculation 172
9.2.2 Input data 172
9.3 Results 173
Chapter 10 – References and Appendices 176
References 176
Appendix 1 - The International System of Units (SI) 186
Appendix 2 - Country ISO codes 187
Appendix 3 - List of national competent authorities 188
Appendix 4 - Periodic Table of the Elements 189
European Atlas of Natural Radiation | Preamble
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Preamble
Kirkjufellsfoss, Iceland, lit by the aurora borealis.
Source: alexander milo on Unsplash.
Preamble | European Atlas of Natural Radiation
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Under the Euratom Treaty, the European Commission (EC) is mandated to collect, verify and report information on radioactivity levels in the environment (European Union, 2016). In this context the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, as a part of its institutional support programme to DG Energy, operates and maintains the Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring database (REMdb), which contains the environmental radioactivity monitoring data provided by the European Union Member States on an annual basis. The REM database also serves as a historical data pool of radioactivity information related to the Chernobyl accident (26 April 1986). In 1998, the JRC published the Atlas on Caesium-137 Deposition on Europe after the Chernobyl Accident (European Union, 1998), which is still available on-line.
All this information aims at monitoring artificial radioactivity, i.e. radioactivity introduced by man into the environment. However, natural ionising radiation is an important contributor to the exposure of members of the public. The human population is continuously exposed to ionising radiation from several natural sources that can be classified into two broad categories: high- energy cosmic rays incident on the Earth’s atmosphere and releasing secondary radiation (cosmic contribution); and radioactive nuclides generated during the formation of the Earth and still present in the Earth’s crust (terrestrial contribution). The terrestrial contribution is mainly composed of the radionuclides of the uranium and thorium decay chains together with radioactive potassium. In most circumstances, radon, a noble gas produced in the radioactive decay of uranium, is the most important contributor to radiation exposure. To gain a clearer overview of the radioactive nature of the environment, the JRC embarked on the European Atlas of Natural Radiation. This Atlas aims to provide reference values and generate harmonised data for the scientific community and national competent authorities. At the same time, it should help the public to become familiar with the naturally radioactive environment.
In this Atlas, the editors aim to present the current state of knowledge of natural radioactivity, by giving general background information, and describing its various sources. It is a compilation of contributions and reviews received from more than 100 experts in their field: they come from universities, research centres, national and European authorities, and international organisations.
The Atlas also contains a chapter on the legal basis and requirements on protection from exposure to natural radiation sources. It presents the latest Basic Safety Standards Directive (European Union, 2013), which, for the first time, introduces legally binding requirements on the protection from exposure to natural radiation sources and, more specifically, to radon. It stipulates, inter alia, that all EU Member States must establish national radon action plans, define reference levels for indoor radon concentrations in dwellings and in workplaces, and identify and delineate radon- priority areas.
The Atlas is complemented by a collection of European maps displaying the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources. As a first step, the JRC started to prepare a European map of indoor radon: it shows 'means over 10 km × 10 km grid cells of long-term indoor radon concentration in ground-floor rooms of dwellings.' At present (December 2019), 35 European countries participate to this map.
Maps of uranium, thorium and potassium concentration in soil, covering most European countries, have been created, while maps of uranium, thorium and potassium concentration in bedrock are available for some countries. A methodology has been developed (based on ambient dose equivalent rate measurements), while European maps have been created using uranium, thorium and potassium concentration in soil. Moreover, a European annual cosmic-ray dose map has been completed.
This publication is the result of collaboration between scientists and policy-makers in EU Member States and beyond. To this end, the JRC has organised and hosted several international workshops and meetings to promote and disseminate the results of this Atlas, as well as to discuss topics linked to natural radioactivity.
This Atlas provides reference values and makes harmonised datasets available to the scientific community and national competent authorities.
In parallel, it may serve as a guide to the public:
• to familiarise itself with natural radioactivity; and
• to be informed about levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources.
The publication of this work would not have been possible without the invaluable help and support of all European authorities who provided us with the most current data and information, as well as the national and international experts and scientists who assisted in writing the text parts, and colleagues who provided graphic and photographic material.
This Atlas is addressed to all who are concerned with radioactivity in the European environment.
M. Betti Director
Nuclear Safety and Security
Directorate-General Joint Research Centre
Foreword
M. Garribba Director
Nuclear Energy, Safety and ITER Directorate-General Energy
European Atlas of Natural Radiation | Chapter I – Rationale
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Chapter I – Rationale | European Atlas of Natural Radiation
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Chapter 1
Rationale
Natural ionising radiation is considered the largest contributor to the collective effective dose received by the world’s population. Man is continuously exposed to ionising radiation from several sources that can be grouped into two categories: first, high-energy cosmic rays incident on the Earth’s atmosphere and releasing secondary radiation (cosmic contribution); and, sec- ond, radioactive nuclides generated when the Earth was formed and still present in its crust (terrestrial contribution). Terrestrial radioactivity is mostly pro- duced by the uranium (U) and thorium (Th) radioactive families together with potassium (
40K), a long-lived radioactive isotope of the elemental potassium. In most cases, radon (
222Rn), a noble gas produced by radioactive decay of the
238U progeny, is the major contributor to the total dose.
This European Atlas of Natural Radiation has been conceived and developed as a tool for the public to become familiar with natural radioactivity; be informed about the levels of such radioactivity caused by differ- ent sources; and have a more balanced view of the annual dose received by the world’s population, to which natural radioactivity is the largest contributor.
At the same time, it provides reference material and generates harmonised data, both for the scientific community and national competent authorities.
Intended as an encyclopaedia of natural radioactivity, the Atlas describes the different sources of such radioactivity, cosmic and terrestrial, and represents
the state-of-the art of this topic. In parallel, it contains a collection of maps of Europe showing the levels of natural sources of radiation.
This work unfolds as a sequence of chapters: the ra- tionale behind; some necessary background informa- tion; terrestrial radionuclides; radon; radionuclides in water and river sediments; radionuclides in food; cos- mic radiation and cosmogenic radionuclides. The final chapter delivers the overall goal of the Atlas: a popu- lation-weighted average of the annual effective dose due to natural sources of radon, estimated for each European country as well as for all of them together, giving, therefore, an overall European estimate.
As a complement, this introductory chapter offers an overview of the legal basis and requirements on pro- tecting the public from exposure to natural radiation sources. In Europe, radiation has a long tradition.
Based on the Euratom Treaty, the European Atomic Energy Community early established a set of legisla- tion for protecting the public against dangers arising from artificial ('man-made') ionising radiation, but this scope has since been extended to include natural ra- diation. Indeed, the recently modernised and consoli- dated Basic Safety Standards Directive from 2013 contains detailed provisions on the protection from all natural radiation sources, including radon, cosmic rays, natural radionuclides in building material, and natural- ly occurring radioactive material.
Clockwise from top-left:
A profile of a typical well drained soil under temperate forest and shows evidence of the main soil processes:
humus formation, weathering, leaching and clay translocation.
Source: Erika Micheli.
Harvesting the wheat crop, Turkey.
Source: meriç tuna on Unsplash.
Cover of the EURATOM Treaty (consolidated version).
Source: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/publications/euratom-treaty/
Starlit sky over Steinernes Meer, Schönau am Königssee, Germany.
Source: Manuel Will on Unsplash.
Cover of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom (Basic Safety Standards Directive).
Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32013L0059
European Atlas of Natural Radiation | Chapter I – Rationale
12
Brussels • Belgium
Seville • Spain Ispra • Italy
Karlsruhe • Germany Geel • Belgium Petten •
The Netherlands
Rationale
1.1 Introduction
In order to describe the history and the motivation behind the European Atlas of Natural Radiation (EANR), this section seeks to answer four simple questions:
a. Who has developed the EANR?
b. Why has the EANR been created?
c. What does the EANR contain?
d. How is the EANR structured?
a. Who has developed the EANR?
The European Commission (EC) develops and operates systems for collecting, checking and reporting information about the levels of radioactivity in Europe’s environment on a continuous basis for routine and emergency conditions. This endeavour is in line with its mission, based on the Euratom Treaty Articles 35, 36 and 39 (European Union, 2016), which are quoted below:
Art. 35: Each Member State shall establish the facilities necessary to carry out continuous monitoring of the level of radioactivity in the air, water and soil and to ensure compliance with the basic standards.
The Commission shall have the right of access to such facilities;
it may verify their operation and efficiency.
Art. 36: The appropriate authorities shall periodically communicate information on the checks referred to in Article 35 to the Commission so that it is kept informed of the level of radioactivity to which the public is exposed.
Art. 39: The Commission shall set up within the framework of the Joint Nuclear Research Centre, as soon as the latter has been established, a health and safety documentation and study section.
In particular, this section shall have the task of collecting the documentation and information referred to in Articles 33, 36 and 37 and of assisting the Commission in carrying out the tasks assigned to it by this Chapter.
In this framework, since 1987, the Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring (REM) group of the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) supports the European Commission in its responsibilities to provide qualified information on the levels of environmental radioactivity, both for routine and emergency situations, through the following activities:
Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring database (REMdb) The Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring database (REMdb) was created in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident (1986) by the European Commission (EC) – Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (DG JRC), located in Ispra, Italy. Since then it has been maintained there with the aim to keep a historical record of the Chernobyl accident and to store the radioactivity monitoring data gathered through the national environmental monitoring programmes of the Member States (MSs). By collecting and checking this information in the REMdb, JRC supports the DG for Energy in its responsibilities to return qualified information to the MSs (competent authorities and general public) on the levels of radioactive contamination of the various compartments of the environment (air concentration, surface and drinking water, milk and mixed diet) on the European Union scale. The REMdb has been accepting data on radionuclide concentrations from European Union (EU) MSs in both environmental samples and foodstuffs from 1984 onwards. To date, the total number of data records stored in REMdb exceeds 5 million, in this way providing the scientific community, authorities and the general public with a valuable archive of environmental radioactivity topics in Europe. For further information about the REMdb, see: https://
rem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/RemWeb/.
ECURIE and EURDEP
After the Chernobyl accident, and in order to improve the international emergency preparedness and response procedures the European Commission defined and put in place a Decision (Council Decision 87/600/EURATOM) that essentially obliges a country that intends to implement widespread countermeasures for protecting its population to notify the European Commission without delay. The same Council Decision also specifies that radiological monitoring data have to be exchanged and made available. Over the past 25 years, the European Commission has invested in improving the rapid exchange of information and data in the event of a major accident. The resulting mechanisms for the early phase of emergency support are the early notification system ECURIE (European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange) and the automatic data exchange platform
EURDEP (European Radiological Data Exchange Platform). 39 countries exchange real-time monitoring information collected from more than 5 500 automatic surveillance systems once per hour in a standard data-format through secure ftp and web- services. This large-scale data harmonisation and exchange system for radioactivity measurements is unique in the world.
The clear concept behind EURDEP is to better equip the decision makers with notified and continuous information available in the form of real-time monitoring data to define the most appropriate countermeasures. For further information, see the EURDEP website: https://eurdep.jrc.ec.europa.eu.
Nuclear Emergency Preparedness and Response
Over the past years, the REM group has undertaken several research and training activities on Nuclear Emergency Preparedness and Response (N EP&R), based on the use of trajectory models and atmospheric dispersion models (ADMs) as well as procedures to improve harmonisation of the monitoring data. For further information, see: https://rem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
RemWeb/ and https://remon.jrc.ec.europa.eu/.
European Atlas of Natural Radiation
After the European Commission published the 'Atlas of Caesium Deposition on Europe after the Chernobyl Accident' (European Communities, 1998), the REM group of the JRC embarked on a European Atlas of Natural Radiation (EANR) with the support of the relevant national/international organisations and the scientific community (see Preamble).
b. Why has the EANR been created?
Natural radioactivity or ionising radiation is considered to be the largest contributor to the collective effective dose received by the world's population. Man is continuously exposed to ionising radiation from several natural sources that can be classified in two broad categories: high-energy cosmic rays incident on the Earth's atmosphere and releasing secondary radiation (cosmic contribution); and radioactive nuclides generated during the formation of the Earth and still present in the Earth's crust (terrestrial contribution). Terrestrial radioactivity is mostly produced by the uranium (U) and thorium (Th) radioactive families together with potassium (40K), which is a long-lived radioactive isotope of the elemental potassium. In most circumstances, radon (222Rn), a noble gas produced in the radioactive decay of
The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
The European UnionThe European Union (EU) is an economic and political association of European countries with a combined population of over 500 million inhabitants (7.3 % of the world's population) and an economy representing approximately 20 % of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The EU has evolved from the original six countries of the European Coal and Steel Community (1951) and the European Economic Community (1958), to 28 Member States.
The term 'European Union' was established under the 1993 Maastricht Treaty. The EU is represented at the United Nations, the WTO, the G8 and the G20. The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions adopted by the Member States. Important EU institutions include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. The members of the European Parliament are elected every five years by EU citizens.
The European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the EU responsible for proposing legislation, verifying the implementation of the decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the day- to-day running of the EU. The Commission acts as a cabinet government, with 28 Commission members - one representative per Member State. The Commission is composed of thirty-four Directorates-General.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy. As the Commission’s in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre’s mission is to provide EU policies with independent, evidence-based scientific and technical support throughout the whole policy cycle. Its work has a direct impact on the lives of citizens by contributing with its research outcomes to a healthy and safe environment, secure energy supplies, sustainable mobility and consumer health and safety. The JRC draws on over 50 years of scientific work experience and continually builds its expertise based on its scientific Directorates, which host specialist laboratories and unique research facilities.
They are located in Belgium (Brussels and Geel), Germany,
Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. While most of the scientific work serves the policy Directorates-General of the European Commission, the JRC addresses key societal challenges while stimulating innovation and developing new methods, tools and standards. The JRC shares know-how with the Member States, the scientific community and international partners. The JRC collaborates with over a thousand organisations worldwide whose scientists have access to many JRC facilities through various collaboration agreements.
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/about Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Security
The mission of the JRC Directorate G for Nuclear Safety and Security to implement the JRC Euratom Research and Training Programme, to maintain and disseminate nuclear competences in Europe, serving both ''nuclear'' and ''non-nuclear'' Member States.
A strong cooperation and complementarity with their national organisations is of key relevance.
Directorate G supports the relevant policy DGs with independent, technical and scientific evidence in the areas of nuclear safety, security and safeguards.
Directorate G is also an active key partner in international networks and collaborates with international organisations and prominent Academia and Research Institutes.
Location of the directorates and headquarters of the JRC.
Chapter I – Rationale | European Atlas of Natural Radiation
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Annual effective dose...
Materials and methods Introduction
Results 9
9.1
9.2
9.3 Introduction
Natural radionuclides...
Measurement methods
Activity concentration...
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
Applications 6.5
Challenges...
6.6 Radionuclides in water and river sediments Radon 6
5 General
background information
Radiation physics
Sources of radiation
Geology
Statistics, measurement, mapping
Measurement methods
Uranium
Thorium
Potassium
European maps of U, Th and K2O in bedrock
Dose rate Source of terrestrial natural radiation
Materials and methods
Terrestrial dose rate mapping
Radon in soil gas
Radon exhalation rate
Outdoor radon
Indoor radon
Radionuclides in food
Applications Materials and methods
Discussion and conclusions
Cosmic radiation...
Cosmogenic radionuclides
Legend:
Section Map plate
Title Cosmic-ray
dose map 2
Rationale 1
2.1
2.2 Introduction
Legal basis...
1.1
1.2
2.3
2.4
3.1 1
2
3
5
4 67
8
3.2
3.3
3.4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
2.5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4 Terrestrial
radionuclides
3 Terrestrial
radiation
4 7
7.1
7.2
8
8.1
Cosmic-ray dose map
8 8.1
8.2
7.3
the 238U progeny, is the major contributor to the total dose.
Indeed, this Atlas is intended as a tool for the public to:
• familiarise itself with natural radioactivity;
• be informed about the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources;
• have a more balanced view of the annual dose received by the world's population, to which natural radioactivity is the largest contributor; and
• make direct comparisons between doses from natural sources of ionising radiation and those from man-made (artificial), and hence to better understand the latter.
Moreover, it provides reference material and generates harmonised data for the scientific community and national competent authorities. The latter could use the information to implement the Basic Safety Standard Directive (European Union, 2013b) regarding aspects linked to natural radiation (e.g. to develop national radon action plans).
Therefore, the EANR is in line with the mission of the European Commission, based on the Euratom Treaty (European Union, 2016), which is to collect, check and report information on radioactivity levels in the environment.
c. What does the EANR contain?
The European Atlas of Natural Radiation could be considered as an encyclopaedia of natural radioactivity. It describes the different natural sources of natural radioactivity, cosmic and terrestrial, in detail and represents the present state-of-the-art of this topic.
Moreover, it contains a collection of maps of Europe showing the levels of natural sources of radiation.
Europe: geographical area
In the EANR, Europe has been considered with the geographical extension of the continent defined as
'bordered in the North by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south (west to east) by the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Kuma-Manych Depression, and the Caspian Sea. The continent’s eastern boundary (north to south) runs along the Ural Mountains and then roughly southwest along the Emba (Zhem) River, terminating at the northern Caspian coast.' (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019).
The spatial coverage of the maps shown in the Atlas varies from map to map, depending on the data that were available to create the maps. For some maps, European-wide databases have been used, while for others the national authorities that agreed to join the Atlas project have provided the data.
d. How is the EANR structured?
The European Atlas of Natural Radiation is structured as depicted in Figure 1-1, namely:
Chapter I – Rationale
It presents the rationale behind the EANR, giving an overview of the European institutions involved in this project. Moreover, the legal basis and requirements on protection from exposure to natural radiation sources are described in detail.
Chapter 2 – General background information
It provides the background information necessary to understand:
• how ionising radiation works;
• why it is present in our environment; and
• how it can be represented on a map.
Chapter 3 – Terrestrial radionuclides
It gives a detailed description of the three main terrestrial radionuclides: uranium and thorium, with their decay chains, and potassium-40. Moreover, it explains the materials and methods used to produce European maps of radionuclide concentration in soil and in bedrock and and displays these maps.
Chapter 4 – Terrestrial radiation
It describes the gamma radiation from terrestrial sources (uranium and thorium with their decay chains and potassium) that represents an important component to the natural radiation environment. The methodologies used to map the terrestrial gamma dose rate are described and the European Annual Terrestrial Gamma Dose Map is displayed. It shows the annual effective dose rate that a person would receive from terrestrial radiation, if she/he spends all the reference time in a location in which the soil has fixed uranium, thorium and potassium concentrations.
Chapter 5 – Radon
It focuses on the noble, naturally occurring radioactive gas called radon (222Rn), which is the largest contributor to the dose due to natural radiation received by the global population.
The chapter is divided into the following sections that describe the different steps from radon source to its accumulation in indoor space: radon in soil gas; radon exhalation; outdoor radon;
JRC mission statement
JRC in brief• As the European Commission's science and knowledge service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) supports EU policies with independent scientific evidence throughout the whole policy cycle.
• The JRC creates, manages and makes sense of knowledge and develops innovative tools and makes them available to policy makers.
• The JRC anticipates emerging issues that need to be addressed at EU level and understand policy environments.
• The JRC collaborates with over a thousand organisations worldwide whose scientists have access to many JRC facilities through various collaboration agreements.
• JRC's work has a direct impact on the lives of citizens by contributing with its research outcomes to a healthy and safe environment, secure energy supplies, sustainable mobility and consumer health and safety.
• The JRC draws on over 50 years of scientific experience and continually builds its expertise in knowledge production and knowledge management.
• The JRC hosts specialist laboratories and unique research facilities and is home to thousands of scientists.
Figure 1-1. Structure of the European Atlas of Natural Radiation.
