National Radon Action Plans in Europe and Need of Effectiveness Indicators: An Overview of HERCA Activities

Abstract

Protection of the population and of workers from exposure to radon is a unique challenge in radiation protection. Many coordinated actions and a variety of expertise are needed. Initially, a National Radon Action Plan (NRAP) has been developed and implemented by some countries, while it is currently recommended by international organizations (e.g., World Health Organization) and required by international regulations, such as the European Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom and the International Basic Safety Standards on Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources, cosponsored by eight international organizations. Within this framework, the Heads of the European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities (HERCA) have organized activities aimed at sharing experiences to contribute toward the development and implementation of effective NRAPs. Two workshops were held in 2014 and 2015, the latter on radon in workplaces. As a follow-up to these, an online event took place in March 2021, and a second specific workshop on NRAP is planned for June 2022. These workshops were attended by experts from the competent authorities of European countries, relevant national and international organizations. The experience of several countries and the outcomes from these workshops have highlighted the need for adequate indicators of the effectiveness and progress of the actions of NRAPs, which could also be useful to implement the principle of optimization and the graded approach in NRAPs. In this paper, the activities of HERCA to support the development and implementation of effective NRAPs are described and some examples of effectiveness indicators are reported, including those already included in the NRAP of some European countries.