ENA convened its annual (virtual) meeting to discuss the latest topical issues on NORM:
– Govert de With (NRG, Netherlands) showed how geochemical modelling can help predicting and controlling the formation of radioactive scales in geothermal installations;
– Peter Görts (ANVS, Netherlands) gave an overview of the activities of the NORM working group of HERCA (the forum of European radiation protection regulators); a survey on natural radioactivity in building materials and how to deal with it will soon be launched;
– Boguslaw Michalik (GIG, Poland) presented the results of an interlaboratory comparison on gamma spectrometry of NORM samples. It shows how metrological factors, such as efficiency calibration, may influence the results.
– Fidel Grandia (Amphos 21, Spain) illustrated the challenges of decommissioning of NORM facilites and of safe management of NORM residues with the example of a phosphate facility in Spain.
The meeting was followed by the General Assembly of our association.