The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority will send measuring equipment to the Chornobyl plant area together with the Norwegian and Swedish authorities

In February, when Russian military forces attacked Ukraine and occupied the Chornobyl plant area, a radiation laboratory (EcoCenter) was destroyed in the area. At the same time, some equipment used for radiation dose control was broken or lost. Without comprehensive measuring equipment and laboratory tests, reliable monitoring and analysis of radiation levels cannot be carried out in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.

Ukraine has made a request for assistance to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, in order to replace the radiation monitoring equipment in the Chornobyl plant area. The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) together with the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Direktoratet for strålevern og atomsikkerhet, DSA) and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten, SSM) have decided to respond to the assistance request. During the spring and summer, STUK, DSA and SSM have been preparing a joint project to replace some of the dosemeters and dosimetry equipment that have been broken or lost on the Chornobyl plant area. This will help to restore the ability to monitor the radiation doses received by the workers as well as the environmental radiation situation in the Chornobyl plant area.

- “I am pleased that we are able to contribute to helping to restore radiation monitoring capability in the Chornobyl plant area to pre-war levels. I am particularly pleased that we can help to ensure the radiation safety of the workers in the plant area and the reliability of the radiation measurement data,” says Petteri Tiippana, STUK’s Director General.

The delivery of the support is being coordinated by the DSA and the equipment is handed over to an organization (State Specialized Enterprize “Econcentre”, SSE) operating in the Chornobyl plant area under the Ukrainian authority.

The delivery includes individual alpha, beta, and gamma radiation meters, control software, systems and hardware, a spectrometer, and a backup power source. In addition, DSA finances a vehicle for sampling in the Chornobyl area.