The national radon program: Implementation experience and challenges for the future

Abstract

The authors share their experience and represent the historical overview of activities on public radiation protection against radon and other natural sources of radiation in Russia. Special attention is paid to the country’s first national radon program - Federal Target Program “Radon” (FTP “Radon”, 1994-1996). Organization, structure, main goals and objectives of the FTP «Radon» are discussed. In particular, it was noted that in a short period of time the country’s regulatory and methodological framework was developed. The scientific basis for identification of the radon prone areas and regulatory support for building construction at the sites was developed. The national SSND equipment was produced and QA/QC system implemented. The national and regional radon surveys have been performed. Unfortunately, the economic situation of those years did not allow to fully implement the planned set of measures at the federal and regional levels. Nevertheless the accumulated experience served as a scientific and technical basis for further improvements in this field and to be consistent with the modern radon regulatory issues and approaches developed by the international organizations (ICRP, IAEA, WHO).

Keywords

• natural sources of ionizing radiation
• radon
• national program
• radon problem
• public exposure
• survey
• dose
• residential and public buildings