The TAWARA_RTM Project

Transcription

1 The TAWARA_RTM Project Cristiano Lino Fontana1 (1) Department of Physics and Astronomy "Galileo Galilei", University of Padova, Padova, Italy 1

2 Greetings! Cristiano Lino Fontana Researcher at the Department of Physics Galileo Galilei University of Padova, Italy Working in the Applied Nuclear Physics group. Main projects: TAWARA_RTM: TAp WAter RAdioactivity Real Time Monitor; C-BORD: effective Container inspection at BORDer control points. (We work on the RN of CBRN) 2

3 Introduction 3

4 A recent example of tap water contamination Japan, 11th March 2011: the Fukushima Daiichi reactors were seriously damaged by the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Large quantities of radioactivity (mainly Cesium and Iodine isotopes) were released in the environment. Regular monitoring of tap water started a few days after the disaster. The danger threshold was set at 100 Bq/l for infants and 300 Bq/l for the rest of the population. [3] Map of earthquake & tsunami [1] Tap water samplings in the Fukushima s surroundings after 16/3/2011 [2] 4

5 Key questions on tap water contamination Tap water radioactivity screening procedures: Periodic samplings followed by laboratory analysis. a. What could happen in the case of a contamination that is not immediately evident? b. How to guarantee that the water distribution is stopped before reaching the population? c. Are the current laboratory techniques suitable for a real-time monitoring of the water status? 5

6 Possible radiological/nuclear threats Some of the possible sources of radiological/nuclear threats considered in the project are: emergencies at a nuclear facility, such as a nuclear power station or a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility; transportation accidents involving the shipment of radioactive material, as nuclear waste from the power stations; loss, theft, or discovery of radioactive material (i.e. the so-called orphan sources); a terrorist attack employing radioactive materials, such as a "dirty bomb 6

7 EU legislation survey I In the 2013/51/EURATOM Directive [4], the EU legislation defines the cumulative dose due to natural radioactivity in water that cannot be exceeded (calculated without Tritium, 40K, Radon and its decay products) and the recommended screening levels for gross alpha and beta activity in drinking-water, below which no further action is required. Cumulative dose: 0.1 msv/year Radiation type Recommended screening levels for gross activity alpha 0.1 Bq/L beta 1 Bq/L If values are exceeded a further radioisotope-specific analysis is necessary. 7

8 EU legislation survey II As stated by WHO in the Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality [5]: identifying individual radionuclide in drinking-water is expensive and is normally not justified for routine monitoring. A more practical approach is to use a screening procedure, where the total radioactivity present in the form of alpha and beta radiation is first determined [5]. The EU legislation sets the minimum number of yearly measurements [4]. Water distributed per day [m3] Samples per year V 100 Determined by member state 100 < V < V per m3/die < V per m3/die < V per m3/die 8

9 Baseline technology The baseline technology is represented by the Liquid Scintillation Counters (LSC), and Proportional Counters (PC). The total time needed for the analysis of a tap water sample in an emergency situation: time to trigger the alarm (?); time to transfer the sample from the distribution system to the laboratory; time for the preparation of the sample (order of hours); counting time (about 1 hour). Even in an emergency situation the processing time is no less than several hours after the alarm is triggered. LSC nor PC are not the best solution for continuous real-time monitoring of the radioactivity in tap water. 9

10 The TAWARA_RTM Project 10

11 The TAWARA_RTM project Title TAp WAter RAdioactivity Real Time Monitor Acronym TAWARA_RTM Project ID Call FP7-SEC Programme FP7 Rdg ENTR Keywords Water radioactivity, Water contamination, Water plants, Alpha-Beta discrimination, Gamma spectroscopy, CBRN, RTM, Sensor Network. Activity Codes SEC Topic SEC : Improving drinking water security management and mitigation in large municipalities against major deliberate, accidental or natural CBRN-related contaminations - Capability Project. The TAWARA_RTM project designed, built and tested a prototype of real-time monitoring system for the radioactivity level in the tap water plants. 11

12 Project participants 8 Participants: UNIPD (Italy) CAEN (Italy) SCIONIX(Netherlands) NCBJ (Poland) ENEA (Italy) MPWiK (Poland) UNIPI (Italy) WIW (Poland) 12

13 The platform concept 13

14 The demonstrator 14

15 The demonstration site The TAWARA_RTM prototype was installed at the Northern Water Treatment Plant of the Warsaw Waterworks Company (MPWiK). It is located 30 km north from Warsaw. It was launched in It can supply up to m3/day. Polish National Radioactive Waste Disposal Site (NRWD) Narew river During the almost 50 years of activity of the site, about 3300 m3 of nuclear wastes have been accumulated, with a total activity of almost 34 TBq Bug river DEMONSTRATION SITE: the prototype was installed at the Northern WTP of MPWiK Zegrzynski Lake Wisla river Warsaw city The drainage basin of the Bug river takes part of his water from the Chernobyl region. 15

16 Beyond research 16

17 System certification ENEA certification objectives: Check that prototypes and final instruments are suitable for the intended use. Only the minimum detectable activities and time to detection were certified. Reference to national and international Standards: European Committee for Standardization (CEN), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). Terminology: ISO/IEC International Vocabulary of Metrology Basic and General Concepts and Associated Terms (VIM), Nuclear data: DDEP/BIPM Monographie, Table of radionuclides. Measurement uncertainties: ISO/IEC Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM),

18 End-users feedback During the two months of operation at the demonstration site, the end-user feedback was collected in order to improve the system usability in real-life conditions on a water treatment plant. This feedback loop allowed to determine the users point of view to isolate the strengths and weaknesses of the demonstrator and of the software. The collaboration inside the Consortium was good. In particular the end-user (MPWiK) has been actively involved in all phases and aspects of the project. 18

19 What next? A cheaper and reduced version of the Real-Time Monitors was developed. This product targets two different users: Water suppliers interested in monitoring the real-time content of RN contaminants for the safety of the water distribution in case of severe contaminations. Emergency responders which require to add to their mobile intervention van a tool for the real-time measurement of the RN content in water. Our partner CAEN is now selling the product to end-user. (See the following presentation from CAEN s representatives) 19

20 The TAWARA_RTM collaboration I would like to thank the whole collaboration for the work done together! 20

21 Bibliography [1] [2] Health Sciences Council 10th Subcommittee for Environmental Health and Water Supply (19th April, 2011), Document 2, The Survey Results of Radioactive Materials in Tap Water [3] Notice No. 0317, Article 3 of the Department of Food Safety (17th March, 2011) [4] Official Journal of the European Union (2013), L 296/12-21, Council Directive 2013/51/EURATOM, Laying down requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption. [5] World Health Organization, Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, First Addendum to 3rd edition, Volume 1, Recommendations (2006) 21