Intercomparison

Measurements of 210Po embedded in glass have been performed with passive detectors in houses ofthree rural communities of Yugoslavia. Field work has been initiated and carried out by the VincaInstitute, Belgrade and analyses have been conducted by SSI (Sweden), UCD (Ireland), NRPA(Norway) and CRR (Italy). Based on 210Po concentration assessments, radon retrospective estimateshave been produced. Fairly good agreement amongst laboratories resulted both for polonium andradon determinations.

The BfS Department of Radiation Protection performs official tasks in the field of radiation protectionfor man and his environment.

The Nuclear Engineering Section of the National Technical University of Athens undertook the organisation of a European building material radon exhalation rate intercomparison exercise in the framework of the European Research into Radon In Construction Concerted Action (ERRICCA). The intercomparison started in June 1998 and it was concluded in February 1999. Twenty participants from 13 countries took part. The exercise focused on the radon exhalation rate determination from a concrete slab, specially constructed to produce radon surface flux well below 10 mBqm-2s-1.

The first Norwegian study of historic radon concentrations in 17 dwellings in the high radon areas inNorway has been conducted as part of an international field intercomparison during 1998. Theinvestigation is part of SINI (an acronym for Sweden, Italy, Norway and Ireland) internationalcollaboration on retrospective radon measurements in several European countries having differentclimates and living conditions.