Sisou Anastasia Labour Inspection Officer Radiation Inspection and Control Service Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance Republic of Cyprus Sofia, Bulgaria, 13-17 October, 2014 1
Cyprus RAP � Radon on dwellings is not included in the existing legislation on radiation protection and nuclear safety in Cyprus. The new BSS Directive (2013/59/Euratom ), laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionizing radiation, which covers the issue of the exposure of workers or members of the public to indoor radon, has to be transposed into the national legislatory framework by the 6 th of February 2018. 2
Cyprus Radon Levels � The island of Cyprus lies in the north-eastern Mediterranean Sea and covers an area of 9251 km 2 . It has a maximum length of 225 km from east to west and a maximum width of 97 km from north to south. Cyprus can be described according to three different geomorphological zones, the Pentadaktylos range (sedimentary rocks) in the north, the Troodos massif (oceanic igneous rocks) in the south, and the Mesaoria Plain (sedimentary rocks) separating the two uplands. Cyprus undergoes a typical Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers (from mid-May to mid-September), and rainy, rather changeable, winters (from mid- November to mid-March), which are separated by short autumn and spring seasons. 3
� Both, geological background and climatic conditions, result in decreased airborne radon levels in Cyprus, and hence, in very low radiological exposure of the Cypriot population to radon and its daughter nuclides. The impact of this exposure is of minor significance compared to that caused by natural and man-made ionising radiation. � Radon levels in aquatic systems are also very low and are expected to decrease even further due to the exhaustive utilization of ground water resources and to the increased introduction of desalinated sea water in the water distribution network and the ground water reservoirs. 4
� University of Cyprus and the Frederick University, are responsible for carrying out measurements in dwellings and prepare the first radon atlas in Cyprus. There is an agreement between the Radiation Inspection and Control Service (RICS) and the above institutes that RICS is one of the end-users of the final report and any material produced. � Investigations of radon levels in homes and the environment has revealed very low levels of radon in Cyprus. The average outdoor concentration of radon was measured to be 11 ± 10 Bq m -3 and average indoor concentration 7 ± 6 Bq m -3 . The calculated annual dose of airborne radon was found to be roughly 0.19 mSv y -1 , which is quite low. In another study, measurements of radon using high sensitivity radon portable detectors in buildings and dwellings revealed mean radon concentrations of 19.3 ± 14.7 Bq m -3 , which is half of the world average of 39 Bq m -3 . More recent measurements show passive indoor radon concentrations in Cyprus in the range of 14 ± 3 Bq m -3 . The same study revealed that the radon concentrations in drinking waters in Cyprus ranged between (0.3 ± 0.3) and (20 ± 2) Bq L -1 . 5
Thank you for your attention 6
References � Sarrou, I., Pashalidis, I., Radon levels in Cyprus. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 68(3):269-277 (2003). � Nikolopoulos, D., Louizi, A., Study of indoor radon and radon in drinking water in Greece and Cyprus: Implications to exposure and dose. Radiation Measurements 43(7): 1305-1314 (2008). � Nikolopoulos, D., Vogiannis, E., Louizi, A., Radon concentration of waters in Greece and Cyprus. EGU General Assembly 2009, Vienna, Austria, 19-24 April 2009. � Kiliari, T., Pashalidis, I., Determination of aquatic radon by liquid scintillation counting and airborne radon monitoring system. Radiation Measurements 43: 1463-1466 (2008). � Kiliari, T., Pashalidis, I., Radon measurements in Cypriot groundwaters. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, Chania, Crete, Greece, 3-5 September 2009. � Theodoulou, G., Parpottas, Y., Tsertos, H., Systematic grid-wise radon concentration measurements and first radon map in Cyprus, Radiation Measurements 47: 451-460 (2012). � Tassos Anastasiou and Haralabos Tsertos, Stelios Christofides and George Christodoulides, Indoor radon (222Rn) concentration measurements in Cyprus using high-sensitivity portable detectors Published in Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 68, 159-169 (2003) 7
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