Strategies for indoor radon mapping — part 2 of 2

Recording →

Presenters: Filipa Domingos (Laboratório de Radioatividade Natural, Portugal), Zornitza Daraktchieva (UK Health Security Agency, United Kingdom), David Rees (UK Health Security Agency, United Kingdom) 
Moderator: Laura Urso (IAEA)
Date of broadcast: 14 November 2024, 13:30 CET

About the webinars

Radon affected area maps have played an essential role for over 30 years in identifying regions with high indoor radon exposure, raising awareness of associated risks and informing public health policies on radon testing and mitigation and on radon safe building construction. While public participation programmes offer an opportunity to gather radon data across large geographical areas within a short timeframe and with relative ease, they present some challenges.

The webinars on strategies for indoor radon mapping, part 1 and part 2, will explore the management and technical aspects of radon mapping, the importance of mapping for strengthening protection against radon, and different approaches to radon mapping using case studies from Angola, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Together, the two webinars aim to enhance understanding of the value of radon mapping in assessing the extent of public exposure to radon and, where relevant, to identify appropriate actions to reduce that exposure and implement safety measures .

Part 1 will introduce the fundamentals on radon issues and highlight the importance of radon maps. Participants will learn about the different types of radon maps and the entire process of developing these maps, including data collection and handling, modeling and model validation.  

Part 2 will focus on practices for raising public awareness and engagement in radon protection programmes, detailing the various techniques employed by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and their effectiveness. This segment will  demonstrate the usefulness of radon maps in reducing radon levels in new and existing buildings, with case studies on the specific factors that influence indoor radon levels in European and non-European contexts, such as geology, building structure and social dynamics. Key geogenic and anthropogenic factors for creating radon maps will be discussed, along with techniques for planning surveys, managing data, publishing maps and encouraging public cooperation. Participants will also be introduced to essential software tools including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which facilitate the visualization and analysis of radon distribution.

Learning objectives

Across both webinars participants will:

• Recognize the importance and value of radon mapping.
• Consider the steps required to plan and execute an effective radon mapping programme.
• Learn about the available software tools and skills required for radon mapping.
• Understand the optimal use of radon maps and consider the value of the data collected during the programme.

About the presenters

Zornitza Daraktchieva is the Radon Dosimetry Team Leader at UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). A physicist with extensive experience in radiation modelling and energy calibration of particle and nuclear physics detectors, Monte Carlo simulation and statistical analysis. She joined the UKHSA radon group in 2010 and has worked on a number of radon topics including seasonality of indoor radon, radon distribution, UK validation scheme and radon mapping. Daraktchieva is also the Chair of British Standards Institution Standards Development Committee NCE/2 on radiation protection and measurement, and a member of the International Organization for Standardization’s radioactivity measurements group and International Electrotechnical Commission’s radon and radon daughter measuring instruments group.

Filipa Domingos works at the Laboratory of Natural Radioactivity at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, which is accredited under ISO 17025:2017 for several radioanalytical techniques, including gamma spectrometry and indoor radon assessment. She holds a BSc and MSc in Geology from the University of Coimbra and is currently pursuing a PhD that focuses on applying decision analysis techniques to develop effective risk management strategies related to natural radioactivity. In addition to her academic pursuits, Domingos is a certified professional in occupational safety. She has also played a key role in creating Portugal’s national radon susceptibility map. Her main goal is to deepen the understanding of natural radioactivity and assess its societal impact, with the ultimate aim of effectively mitigating the associated risks.

David Rees is the Information and Data Team Leader at UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and has been working in the radon group since 2000. During his time in the group, he has played an important role in the production of three generations of radon affected area maps in England, Wales and Scotland and two in Northern Ireland. Rees also manages the national radon database, which holds the results of nearly 700 000 indoor passive radon measurements in over 600 000 individual addresses gathered from over 40 years of radon testing undertaken in the United Kingdom.