8 cities of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast will collect IRS: a pilot project “STEP to security”

The information campaign on radiation awareness “STEP to safety”, which has been taking place in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast  for already eight months, announced the beginning of a new phase of work with communities and citizens. It is time to collect dangerous sources of ionizing radiation, which are outside the state regulation, it was announced at the press conference, which took place today online.

It was attended by Yulia Gontar — Deputy Director for Coordination of Branches and Strategic Development of the State Specialized Enterprise “Radon Association” and Olena Salnyk  —  “STEP to Security” Project Manager. From February 16 to March 19 in the cities of Dnipro, Verkhniodniprovsk, Kamyanske, Marganets, Nikopol, Pokrov, Zhovti Vody and Kryvyi Rig will operate a mobile radiology laboratory of the project “STEP to safety”.

It will be based in places designated by local authorities. The time and location of the base will be indicated on the project page krok.uatom.org/ and on the Facebook page.

“This is a logical continuation of our project,” said its head Olena Salnyk. “We told a lot to the inhabitants of towns and villages about the harm of possessing radioactive objects and the danger of contact with them. Now we are ready to show in practice how to properly get rid of these dangerous things. Our laboratory is equipped with certified equipment. Specialists who will work in it can provide any information support to citizens, give any explanations about man-made radiation. And still to carry out necessary researches of the territory, subjects, property if there are motivated suspicions about existence of radioactive subjects. All these services are free for both communities and citizens.”

In case of detection of radioactive objects, the laboratory specialists do not remove or dispose of them themselves. This is the competence of special services, which are notified of the detection of unaccounted sources in the prescribed manner, prescribed in a Government decree and in accordance with the regional Action Plan. All work on retrieval, transportation and burial is within the competence of the State Specialized Enterprise “Radon Association” and its Dnieper branch.

“Implementation of the next stage of the project is an important step towards creating a radiation-safe environment for both humans and the environment. After all, an informed person at this stage will be able to contact the project managers so that the relevant services can come and check any suspicious object. It is important to remember that any interaction of non-specialists with sources of ionizing radiation, and even more so attempts to disassemble them — leads to local radiation accidents. It is better to get rid of such sources safely and correctly by notifying the relevant services, ”said Yulia Gontar, Deputy Director for Branch Coordination and Strategic Development of the Radon Association.

Specialists of the Radon Association have modern technologies for the elimination of local radiation accidents and for the reliable and safe handling of detected radioactive sources. The conference participants expressed hope that citizens and communities would take the opportunity to legally dispose of dangerous radioactive objects.

After all, voluntary notification of their presence is not punishable by law.

Reference: The Chornobyl Institute for Research and Development is a domestic expert-analytical centre that implements its own and partner scientific and technical research in the field of radioactive materials management, environmental protection and overcoming the consequences of radiation accidents. The Institute creates and implements information, educational and research programs in the field of radiology and radiation safety.

In 2017, the Institute was involved as an executor of the project “Public Relations and Information Campaign on the Amnesty Program for Ionizing Radiation Sources”, which is realized to implement agreements between Ukraine and the United States in the field of nuclear security and nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear terrorism control programs.

“STEP to Safety” is a campaign on radiation awareness and control over the non-proliferation of radioactive materials, including abandoned sources of ionizing radiation. The main goal of the campaign is to raise public awareness of radiation safety rules, as well as to encourage citizens to report to government agencies about detected and / or retained sources of ionizing radiation, thereby increasing the level of life safety.