Radioactivity control, ISIN hosts the inspectors of the European Commission

The visit by the inspectors of the European Commission began today and will end on 18 November, which will have as its object the control of the functioning and efficiency of the monitoring systems of radioactivity in the air, in the soil, in surface water, in foodstuffs and drinking water and the methods for monitoring radioactivity in the event of a radiological emergency in Italy in general and, in particular, in Rome.

The director of ISIN, Maurizio Pernice, addressed the guests with a greeting emphasizing among other things the Inspectorate's commitment to strengthening the emergency alarm networks with the activation of two highly sensitive stations in the REMRAD network and the launch of the GAMMA network renewal program with the replacement of 39 old monitoring stations with new technologically advanced stations.

This is the seventh verification visit to Italy by the European Commission since 2006.

The art. 35 of the EURATOM Treaty establishes, in fact, that "Each Member State shall provide for the systems necessary to carry out the permanent control of the level of radioactivity in the atmosphere, water and soil, as well as to control compliance with the fundamental standards. The Commission has the right to access the control systems and can verify their functioning and effectiveness".

The verification activities will be conducted by officials of the Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Unit of DG ENER of the European Commission and will involve the main laboratories in charge of carrying out the pertinent analyzes in the aforementioned fields.

ISIN, as an independent national technical regulatory authority on nuclear safety and radiation protection, is the national contact point for the obligations deriving from the Euratom Treaty and, pursuant to current legislation, carries out the technical coordination activities of the national network of Environmental Radioactivity Surveillance (RESORAD). The Inspectorate was, therefore, involved in the preparation of the verification visit and will provide technical and logistical support to the officials of the European Commission during the execution of the visit itself.

The opening meeting of the verification visit, organized by ISIN, was attended by all the subjects responsible for monitoring radioactivity in the environment and in food, i.e. the representatives of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, of Health, of the Interior and of the laboratories that they will be verified.

The verification activities will concern the ARPA Lazio laboratories of Viterbo, the Zooprophylactic Institute of Lazio and Tuscany, the radioprotection physical and environmental surveillance laboratory belonging to the ENEA Radioprotection Institute, the ISIN laboratory and the National NBCR Center of the Fire Brigade.

A closing meeting is scheduled for 18 November, in which the results of the verification by the officials of the European Commission will be anticipated. The preparation of a report will then follow, which will be published on the European Commission website at the following address:

https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/verifications-radiation-monitoring-eu-countries