Project considered by the Preparation and Assessment Committee (PAC) on 16/11/04 and approved by the Approval Board (AB) on 17/11/04 as the CORE Programme Topical Project

Structural framework of the Topical Project (TP)

Background information

Because of its past experience with the ETHOS Project (1996-2001) the Stolyn district is facing a particular situation as far as the radiation monitoring aspect is concerned. On the one hand there is in the district a small group of professionals (dosimetrists, nurses, medical doctors, teachers) and villagers who are well aware of the radiological situation and have the expertise for managing it on a day to day basis. On the other hand the general obsolescence of the radiation monitoring system and the economical constraints in the district are limiting the capabilities of this core group to maintain the continuation of the actions put in place within the ETHOS Project and a fortiori to diffuse it in the whole district.

Objective and tasks of the TP

Building on the ETHOS experience, the general aim of the Project Proposal is to improve the present radiation monitoring system in the Stolyn district to give to the whole population of the district the ability to better control the radiological quality of the foodstuffs they consume and to maintain the level of contamination of the person as low as reasonably achievable taking into account the general economic situation in the district. It will extend and complement the existing monitoring infrastructure through the implementation of fixed and mobile Whole Body Counters (WBCs), the modernisation of existing Local Centres of Radiological Control (LCRCs) and the development of new Centres.

The Topical Project will directly contribute at spreading further a practical radiation protection culture within the district through the direct involvement of the population and the local professionals (especially health care professionals) in the day to day management of the radiological quality. Past experience has demonstrated that the development of such a culture requires several factors to be combined among which a basic knowledge about the mechanisms through which individuals are exposed within a contaminated environment and the direct access through measurements of the radiological quality of the environment (inclusive radiation monitoring).

Local, national and international partners of the TP

Local partners:

The Stolyn hospital and its branch of Davidgorodok
Michael Lenev
Derjinsky str., 102
225510 Stolyn, Belarus
+375 165-52-13-82
+375 165-52-46-67
stolin-hospital@brest.by

The Stolyn Centre for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health

The Local Centres of Radiological Control in the Stolyn district (LCRCs)

National partners:

The Brest Branch of the Research Institute of Radiology (BB-RIR)
Alexander Sudas
Lenina St , 27,
225710 PINSK
Republic of Belarus
+375 165-35-54-59
+375 165-35-55-30
bfrir@tut.by, bfrir@brest.by

The Belarus Institute of Radiation Safety (BELRAD)
Vasily Borisovitch Nesterenko
72, Plekhanova St
220072 MINSK
Republic of Belarus
+375 172-37-03-96 office
+375 172-36-15-29 home
+375 172-37-03-66
belrad@nsys.by

International partners:

The Association pour le Contrôle de la Radioactivité dans l`Ouest (ACRO) - France
Jean-Claude Autret
138 rue de l`Eglise
F-14200 Hérouville Saint Clair
+33 2-31-94-35-34
+33 2-31-94-85-31
acro-laboratoire@wanadoo.fr

The Centre d`étude sur l`Evaluation de la Protection dans le domaine Nucléaire (CEPN) - France
Jacques Lochard
Route du Panorama
BP 48
92263 Fontenay aux Roses
+33 1-58-35-86-65
+33 1-40-84-90-34
lochard@cepn.asso.fr

The role of the various partners of the Topical Project will be the following:

• BB-RIR will ensure the general coordination of the Project. Moreover it will control the operation of the LCRCs and will ensure regular whole body monitoring of children in the district thanks to a mobile whole body counter.
• BELRAD will be in charge to train the radiametrists and to ensure independent whole body measurements (Twice a year in April and in October) in the localities that will participate to the Project with its mobile equipment.
• The Stolyn hospital and its branch of Davidgorodok will ensure fixed whole body measurements. It will host and operate an Health Professional Local Information Network in cooperation with BB-RIR and the LCRCs.
• The Stolyn Centre for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health will contribute to the Project as expert for the local monitoring. Every year, it will also participate jointly with the others partners in the establishment of an annual report on the radiological situation in the district.
• The LCRCs will ensure on a day to day basis the measurements of foodstuffs on requests of the population.
• ACRO and CEPN will support the setting up of the Health Professional Local Information Network in cooperation with the Stolyn hospital and the creation of a local NGO devoted to the promotion among the population and particularly children of a preventing attitude against the potential dangers of contamination.

Detailed description of the TP implementation stages

Activity 1 : Organisation of a Launching Seminar (first half of 2005)

This Seminar will aim at presenting the Project to the local actors to discuss its objectives and to identify the local arrangements for its implementation. The partners of the Projects together with the local professionals and authorities and representatives of the population will evaluate the alternative approaches to achieve the objectives of the Project described above and decide in common how to proceed in practice to implement the selected options.

All Belarus and European partners of the Project will participate actively to the preparation and the running of the Seminar.

Activity 2 : Improvement of the radiological monitoring system ( 2005-2008)

This system will be developed using the existing infrastructure in the Stolyn district and will support:

• The modernization of the existing LCRCs and the implementation of new LCRCs-
• The installation of fixed WBCs in the hospital of Stolyn and its branch of Davidgorodok-
• The equipment of a mobile WBC at BB-RIR-
• The independent measurements of children and voluntary adults by Belrad.

Consequently, the monitoring of foodstuffs will be performed by the Stolyn Centre for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health, by the LCRCs and by several measurements points in food processing factories or in markets; the monitoring of the population will be ensured by the mobile team of BB-RIR, by the Belrad institute and by the hospitals. This will ensure the pluralism of measurements and the harmonisation of the professionals involved in measurements. Each year, all involved partners in the radiation monitoring will have to cooperate to elaborate an annual report on the radiological situation of the district.

The Project will adopt a graduate approach taking into account the available human, technical and financial resources available. The possible options will be discussed between the partners of the Project and the local actors and decisions taken after thorough evaluation of advantages and disadvantages of each option.

Following the lessons of the ETHOS Project and the first results of the Topical Project on radiation monitoring supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in the Bragin district, the objective of the proposed Topical Project will be to develop a system that will be inclusive, effective, reliable, pluralistic and sustainable. This last criteria will be a determinant in the selection process of the measurements options that will be adopted in the district. It is expected that the Project will result in the implementation of a monitoring system that will be able to continue long after the end of the Project based on the local and national resources.

Activity 3 : Development of a practical radiological protection culture among the population

Beyond the implementation of an effective infrastructure to ensure a reliable radiation monitoring of the population and particularly children, the objective of the Topical Project will be to develop among all actors a practical radiological protection culture to allow each of them to adopt a preventive approach with regard the radiological situation. The development of such culture relies on education, training and information. The role of the Project will be to support actions that will favour the development of actions in co-operation with the local authorities and the local professionals involved in health care and education of children. It is for instance planned to set up a Health Professional Local Information Network in the Stolyn hospital. The ACRO and CEPN NGOs will play a key role in the definition and the implementation of these actions.

Activity 4 : Final seminar

Towards the end of the Project an International Seminar will be organised to draw the lessons of the experience, to evaluate the success of the Project and to explore ways to disseminate its results in the other contaminated districts involved in the CORE Programme and beyond in the other affected districts of Belarus. This Seminar will be organised by all the Belarus and European partners involved in the Project in co-operation with all local actors including authorities and professionals bodies. Representatives from national and international organisations and authorities as well representatives of other districts will be invited to participate to the evaluation.

Success criteria of the TP

A first list of criteria of success has been identified:

• Number of foodstuff and whole body measurements performed each year
• Annual number of spontaneous calls for measurements by the local population
• Level of commitment of the local authorities
• Annual report of the radiological situation in the Stolyn district prepared in cooperation between all partners
• Reduction of the body contamination of the children
• Spreading of the practical radiological culture among the population and particularly children.

This first list will be completed during the first part of the Project based on discussions with the local population and professionals.

Intended output of the T P

The expected results of the project are :

• A better monitoring of the radiological situation (foodstuffs and population)
• An improvement of the practical radiation protection culture among the local professionals and the population, particularly children.

Co-ordination and integration of the TP into the CORE Programme

It is expected that the Project will serve as a support to the other Topical Projects that are already or will be implemented in the district within the framework of the CORE programme as far as radiation monitoring aspects are concerned such as health surveillance and health care, economic and social development particularly in agriculture and education.

Timeshedule

All Rights Reserved, CORE, 2004