Verification of environmental radioactivity monitoring facilities under the terms of Article 35 of the Euratom Treaty — Practical arrangements for the conduct of verification visits in Member States
Date: 2006-07-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, environmental monitoring, exchange of information, nuclear safety, radioactive effluent, radioactivity

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Verification of environmental radioactivity monitoring facilities under the terms of Article 35 of
the Euratom Treaty

Practical arrangements for the conduct of verification visits in Member States

(2006/C 155/02)

1. BACKGROUND

if necessary, by bilateral protocols between individual
Member States and the Commission services.

(1) Chapter 3, Health and Safety, of Title II of the Euratom
Treaty is concerned on the one hand with the establish-
ment of Basic Safety Standards for the protection of the
health of workers and members of the public (Articles 30
— 33) and on the other hand specifically with the surveil-
lance of
levels of radioactivity in the environment (air,
water, soil) as laid down in Articles 35 — 38.

(2) Article 35 stipulates that: ‘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 Commis-
sion shall have the right of access to such facilities; it may
verify their operation and efficiency.’

(3) Article 36 stipulates that: ‘The appropriate authorities shall
periodically communicate
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.’

information on the

(4) Furthermore,

Commission

Recommendation
2000/473/Euratom of 8 June 2000 on the application of
Article 36 of the Euratom Treaty concerning the moni-
toring of the levels of radioactivity in the environment for
the purpose of assessing the exposure of the population as
‘To ensure compliance with the Basic
a whole explains:
in addition to air,
Safety Standards it is important that,
water and soil,
levels of radioactivity be determined in
biological samples and in particular in foodstuffs, and …’
and ‘the monitoring of levels of radioactivity in soil does
not allow a direct assessment of the exposure of the popu-
lation. The exposure related to soil contamination is more
directly assessed on the basis of … foodstuff contamination
…’. Thus, Commission verifications under Article 35 also
cover the monitoring of various biota (food, feed, vegeta-
tion).

(5) Verifications under Article 35 were undertaken in the past,
prior to 1 May 2004, in all Member States of the European
Union. The practical arrangements for carrying out verifica-
tions were agreed on the basis of bilateral meetings held
with the authorities concerned in the Member States in
order to clarify the scope, intention and conduct of such
verifications. Conclusions were subsequently laid down in
bilateral protocols forwarded through the Permanent Repre-
sentatives to the national authorities and approved by the
Member States.

(6) Following enlargement of the Community to 25 Member
States, the need was felt to establish a common basis for
Article 35 verifications in all Member States by means of a
Commission Communication, which may be supplemented,

2. APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE 35

(7) Commission verifications cover facilities for environmental
monitoring in the Member States, where they form part of
a national network (‘nation-wide environmental moni-
toring’). Such networks may be automatic and/or labora-
tory-based and include both routine measurement of radio-
activity in air, water, soil and different biota and the facil-
ities intended to provide an alarm or data in the event of
accidents. The latter are included insofar as information
from such facilities may give rise to an increased sampling
and measuring regime.

(8) Furthermore, Commission verifications also cover all facil-
ities for monitoring site-related environmental radioactivity
as well as liquid or aerial discharges which are operated in
for
installations or linked to activities with a potential
discharging radioactive substances into the environment
such as:

— Nuclear fuel cycle installations (e.g. mining, fuel fabrica-
tion, power stations, research reactors, reprocessing
plants, radioactive waste disposal sites and repositories),

— Radioactive isotope production plants,

— Hospitals using radioactive isotopes,

— Current and past mining activities

effluents

(not necessarily
limited to uranium mining) and industrial plants
containing materials with
discharging
enhanced levels of natural
(NORM),
insofar as national regulations under Title VII of the
Basic
Directive
96/29/Euratom of 13 May 1996 laying down basic
safety standards for the protection of the health of
workers and the general public against
the dangers
arising from ionizing radiation) apply.

radionuclides

Standards

(Council

Safety

the environment
The Commission holds the view that
starts where the discharges pass out of operational control
and that Article 35 verifications therefore include the facil-
ities for monitoring the aerial and liquid discharges of
installations. Such facilities may be located within or
outside the installation's premises.

(9) As far as verifications as referred to in (8) are concerned,
no distinction is made between monitoring facilities
provided by national authorities and those provided by the
plant operator in compliance with statutory requirements
— both are included within the scope of the verification
exercise.

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Generally,
toring

the verification covers all

facilities for moni-

(g) Management of sample archives where applicable,

— aerial and liquid discharges of radionuclides into the

environment (‘discharge monitoring’), and

— environmental radioactivity around and in installations

(‘site-specific environmental monitoring’).

3. SCOPE OF COMMISSION VERIFICATIONS

(10) The primary objective of the Commission's verifications is
to satisfy itself of (i) the operation and efficiency of the
facilities established for the measurement of environ-
mental radioactivity and of radioactive discharges and (ii)
the
environmental monitoring
programme. Efficiency and adequacy are assessed in rela-
tion to the overall approach developed at national level to
ensure the protection of members of the public in compli-
ance with the Basic Safety Standards. This approach is
taken into account but is not itself subject to verification.

adequacy

the

of

(11) However, the scope of the conclusions to be drawn from
the verifications does not include any assessment of the
source or the magnitude of the environmental impact of
discharges or the levels of radioactivity in the environ-
ment.

(12) The Commission's

role does not affect

the primary
responsibility for ensuring compliance with the Basic
Safety Standards, which remains with the individual
Member State as stated in Article 33 of the Euratom
Treaty. While building confidence in the trustworthiness
of environmental monitoring information, verifications
may however foster the harmonisation of methods for the
measurement of environmental radioactivity and of radio-
active discharges.

(h) Data handling and reporting procedures, and

(i) Quality control measures,

including participation in
intercomparison exercises. National accreditations will
not be questioned.

(14) Part of the verifications consists in checking the consis-
tency of the actual set-up of monitoring facilities with the
information reported under Articles 36 or 37 of
the
Euratom Treaty. In particular, general data supplied under
Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty will be used where
necessary to compare the originally planned environ-
mental monitoring programme with the actual one.

4. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR SELECTING FACILITIES FOR

VERIFICATION

(15) Verifications are generally performed in accordance with
an annual programme set up by the Commission services.
This programme will take into account general principles
such as: adequate coverage of all Member States; inclusion
of
the
installations across the complete spectrum of
nuclear fuel cycle as well as nation-wide monitoring
systems, NORM industries and hospitals.

(16) The Commission will examine any request for verification
by a third party. In such a case, Commission Services will
first discuss the grounds of the request with the national
authorities of the Member State on which territory the
verification was requested before taking any decision on
whether to perform a verification.

(13) Commission verifications should enable a judgement to be

made as to the:

(a) Operation of the environmental and discharge moni-
toring facilities, i.e. their set-up and use in accordance
with the design characteristics of the equipment or
measuring devices used,

5. PLANNING OF VISITS

(17) The duration of a visit will generally be five days, on the
basis of a work programme defined in close collaboration
with the Member State's competent authority. The visit
may encompass

— environmental monitoring facilities (nationwide and

site-specific),

(b) Suitability of
methods,

sampling and sample preparation

— aerial discharge monitoring facilities,

(c) Suitability of analytical methods,

— liquid discharge monitoring facilities,

(d) Compliance with any national regulatory requirements
in terms of sampling and analysis (with regard to
methods and procedures),

(e) Efficiency, defined as the effectiveness of the equip-
ment in the monitoring undertaken (sensitivity, detec-
tion parameters, etc.),

(f) Management of records of radioactivity discharges and

of environmental monitoring results,

— data centres.

(18) The visits are announced as far as possible at least two
months in advance so that the competent authority can
make the necessary arrangements. Once the date of the
visit is confirmed, the Commission services will
inform
the competent authority of the composition of the verifi-
cation team, which normally comprises two to four repre-
sentatives, possibly also including national experts on
secondment to the Commission.

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(19) The Commission services will request information relevant
for the preparation of the visit such as reports, descrip-
tions, schematics, maps, etc. well in advance, in order to
allow the competent authority to compile the informa-
tion.

(20) Should the Commission services intend to introduce onto
any site visited a source of radioactivity (for example, for
calibration purposes), they will indicate this in writing to
the Member State, to allow for authorisation and registra-
tion procedures where necessary.

(21) Member States will make all necessary arrangements so
that the Commission's verification team is accompanied
by representatives of
the competent authority and, as
appropriate, of the site and network operator.

6. PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

(22) The Member State where the verification is being carried
out will take all appropriate measures to facilitate the
Commission's
in Article 192
Euratom. To this end, national authorities are expected to
cooperate with the verification team at all stages of the
verification.

task, as provided for

(23) All members of the Commission's verification team will
act
in conformity with the regulations laid down for
safety and security at each location visited; these regula-
tions include all the rules governing hygiene, radiological
protection and security pertaining to each site. All
members of
the Commission's verification team will
comply with the necessary entry formalities that apply to
visitors.

(24) The members of the Commission's verification team will
be able to communicate with the authorities and plant
in a common, mutually understood
operator personnel
language. It is understood that the host country will not
be requested to provide for the translation of the docu-
mentation. However,
the Commission services would
highly appreciate it if the essential documents could be
made available in electronic form prior to the scheduled
visit, as this would increase the efficiency of the visit and
facilitate any translation.

(25) To carry out its mission, the Commission's verification
team needs to consult such documents that are necessary
to form a judgement on the operation and efficiency of
the monitoring equipment. To this end, the Commission's
and registers
consult
verification team will
containing the results obtained from the monitoring facil-
ities.

reports

(26) Copies of data and documents not in the public domain
will not be taken away by any member of the Commis-
sion's verification team, except with the express agree-
ment of the representative of the competent authority.

7. REPORTING

(27) A technical report will be drawn up by the Commission's
verification team and will serve as a basis for the main
findings. Within six months after the visit or after the
receipt of additional
information requested during the
visit, a draft version of this technical report will be sent to
the competent authorities of the country visited, in order
to have its factual accuracy checked. This is without preju-
dice to the exercise by the Commission of its rights as
guardian of the Treaty, as provided for in particular in
Article 141 of the Euratom Treaty. Comments by the
competent authority on the draft technical report will be
taken into consideration for the final version of the tech-
nical report. The technical report will be distributed as an
annex to the main findings.

(28) The main findings and recommendations arising from the
verification exercise will be reported to the Commission,
which will send a copy to the Member State visited. If the
request for verification came from a third party, a copy
will be sent to the latter.

(29) The Commission's practice is to publish the main findings
and the technical report, together with any comments by
the Member State explicitly intended for this purpose, on
the Commission's website with due respect
for any
concerns voiced by the Member State concerning proprie-
tary and commercial issues.

(30) The Member State visited may publish the main findings
and the technical report in an unaltered form after publi-
cation by the Commission.

(31) A general

report on the Commission's verification
programme will be drawn up at appropriate times for the
attention of the European Parliament and Council.

Clarification of some terms used in this Communication

Competent authority:

Any national regulatory body or authority designated or other-
wise recognised as such for any purpose in connection with
Article 35 Euratom.

Monitoring facility:

All (technical) equipment used for sampling, sample prepara-
tion or radioactivity or radiation measurement, including field
and laboratory measurements. Monitoring facilities may be part
of an automatic or a manual system, and may concern aerial or
liquid discharges or environmental media.

Installation:

to give

Premises with the potential
to radioactive
discharges; they include nuclear fuel cycle installations, mine
tailings and waste repositories, and also medical, industrial and
research establishments. Aerial and liquid discharges may occur
at one or more locations (stacks, ducts, pipes).

rise

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National network:

Network operated by or on behalf of one or more national
competent authorities. Generally, such a network may consist
of several sub-networks, and will cover the whole country.

Network:

Automated or laboratory-based system for the surveillance of
environmental
radioactivity. An automated network may
measure the ambient gamma dose rate, may sample surface air
and measure aerosol-bound or gaseous radioactivity, or may
measure gross or nuclide-specific activity in waters. A labora-
tory-based network may consist of different institutions that
sample various environmental media, which are then analysed
in laboratories. Generally, data are stored, processed and
archived in a data centre.
is designed to
measure primarily high radiation levels (for warning and
is not deemed to be within the remit of
defence purposes)
Article 35 verifications.)

(A network that

Plant:

Used here as a synonym for ‘installation’ in specific contexts
(e.g. reprocessing).

Discharge monitoring:

and procedural provisions

for
Technical, organisational
analysing and evaluating (on-line or off-line) aerial or liquid
discharges at the last point before leaving operational control.
The corresponding facilities may be situated within the site of
the installation or off-site.
for
example, this would include any facilities for sampling and
measurement of such releases (whether in pipes or in holding
tanks), control of release (such as valves), laboratory analysis of

In a nuclear power plant,

discharge samples or the calculation of released activity. The
general objective is to register and evaluate the amount of
radioactivity that is released to the environment where it could
have an impact on the environment or — directly or indirectly
— on the public. (It should be noted that Article 35 verifica-
tions do not deal with the activity levels of discharges per se,
but rather with the methods and procedures used to monitor
them, and would not cover any analysis done only for the
operational control of the installation.)

Environmental monitoring:

and procedural provisions

for
Technical, organisational
analysing the ambient radiation level and levels of radioactivity
in the environment. On a national scale, this is usually achieved
with one or more monitoring (automatic or laboratory-based)
networks; environmental monitoring specific to a site may use
automated networks or may be based on a pre-defined scheme
of sampling and sample analysis procedures. The general objec-
tive is to register any impact on the environment (e.g. as
regards activity concentrations in various media) and any
changes of contamination with time, and ultimately to supply
the basis for estimates of (population) exposure. (It should be
noted that Article 35 verifications do not deal with the activity
levels in the environment per se, but rather with the methods
and procedures used to monitor them.)

Data Centre:

Facility equipped with storage and communication hardware
and software and with appropriate procedures to acquire, store
and archive data from monitoring activities. Data presentation
may be in the data centre itself or in remote data presentation
centres such as national or local supervising bodies.