Radiation protection serves the purpose of protecting the staff, the population and the areas surrounding nuclear plants against ionising radiation. The key aspects here are radiation measurement technology and radioanalytical work.
Although many insights have been gained through radiation biology research, many ambiguities still remain. Nevertheless, ENSI, in cooperation with other international organisations, is working towards closing these knowledge gaps.
Ionising radiation can cause sicknesses. In order to protect the population and personnel working in nuclear installations from these harmful effects, it must be possible to measure radiation doses at any time and as accurately as possible.
There is no question in radiation biology that the severity of sickness increases at high doses. Nevertheless, it is important when considering everyday radiation protection to be able to estimate the risk of a mutation of the genetic material, and thus the risk of cancer, even in the low dose range.
With high doses, the severity of the radiation effect increases beyond that of a threshold dose. While the chances of survival up to a certain radiation exposure remain unaffected, very high doses, such as those measured on the Chernobyl site after the reactor accident, will lead to death within a very short time period.
The discovery of X-rays triggered an explosion of interest. The euphoria was, however, tempered as more and more information became known about the side effects. Radiation biology examines how radiation acts on cells and tissues.
The reactor pressure vessel is enclosed by the containment as the third barrier. This consists of a steel primary containment and a concrete secondary containment.
With its pipelines, shut-off valves and other components, the cooling circuit, together with the reactor pressure vessel, is the second barrier for trapping radioactive substances
The reactor pressure vessel, together with the water’s cooling circuit, is the second barrier for trapping radioactive substances.
The fuel pellets are filled into metal tubes. Together with the nuclear fuel matrix, the cladding tubes are the first barrier for trapping radioactive substances in nuclear power plants.
