Nuclear: ENEA presents a mobile lab for analysis and safety

Public Adminstrations and private companies have at their disposal a specific tool to analyse and safely dispose of radiological and nuclear materials and radioactive substances, 30 years since the catastrofic Chernobyl disaster..

It’s the ENEA Laboratory for radiological characterization and waste management, a mobile lab equipped with the ultimate high-tech solutions to safely manage radiological and nuclear materials. The Lab, fitted  with portable instrumentation allowing to conduct early monitoring characterization and consulting activities, is one of the safety tools Italy has developed since the Chernobyl accident of 26 April 1986.

The vehicle has in fact been planned and designed within the framework of the nuclear safety and safeguard activities of the Ministry of the Economic Development, envisaged in the Additional Protocol to the Verification Agreement of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  The ENEA mobile Lab is especially targeted to operators of the nuclear fuel cycle, Control Authorities, Regional Agencies, Port Authorities and Customs.

Controls on waste or environmental samples containing fissile or radioactive materials are crucial in crossing points  (ports, airports, railway stations) in case of abandoned material, improper storage, loss of traceability or  improperly trained security personnel.

The Laboratory can be used for a wide range of interventions, given the large  variety of potential  high-risk radioactive materials and components such as old lightning rods and smoke detectors containing americium, a radioactive element employed as ionizing radiation source.

The advanced technologies of the laboratory allow to intervene directly at the site and determine rapidly the physical and radioactive characteristics of the material being analyzed. The discovery of “suspect” material entails a complex process involving mitigation risk activities,  the identification and evaluation of the radioactive substance, the reclamation of the site, the safe disposal of the material to be identified and possible investigation activities in the case of stolen material.

“It’s a compact, versatile, innovative technology deriving from the professional skills, competencies and equipment of ENEA-Alessandro Todaro, Head of the Division for Fission technologies, Facilities and Nuclear Materials Management, pointed out- the laboratory is fitted with measuring tools, validated both experimentally and through adequate calculation models, based on gamma and alpha spectrometry and neutron detection. In addition, active dosimeters and instruments for measuring surface contamination are available,  with the aim of guaranteeing  compliance to the current legislation indicating the dose limits for  ionizing radiation exposure in the workplace.”

Link to the video for the media:  ENEA Mobile Laboratory

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1-The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), with 188 State-Parties, defines a reference framework to regulate the international transfer of materials , technologies and facilities for the peaceful applications of nuclear energy and ensure controls and safeguards in order to avoid “horizontal” nuclear proliferation, that is to say the increase in number of States endowed with a nuclear arsenal. In execution of the Treaty, in 2003 Italy ratified the Additional Protocol to the Verification Agreement of 1973, with the aim of strenghtening prevention from proliferation of nuclear weapons, extending its control actions to materials and activities not strictly nuclear that could be used directly or indirectly in the nuclear sector.