Believed to be scientifically exhausted 25 years ago, radon (Rn) research is livelier than ever. Steps towards regulation since the late 2000s (IAEA 1 , EU 2) and integration into the general radioprotection regime (ICRP 3 ) motivated various research projects, and their number seems to be still increasing. It turned out that compliance with action according to regulation, aimed to prevent, mitigate and remediate Rn exposure in a quality assured manner raised questions that warranted thorough investigation. In this contribution, we address a few of them.

Hazard and risk: Until not long ago, the terms have mostly been used interchangeably. However, this blurs an important difference which has consequences for Rn abatement policy. Hazard denotes the physical cause of a detriment, but only under certain conditions (summarized as the vulnerability factor) and the presence of persons affected, it becomes risk. While it is important to know the geographical distribution of hazard (leading to Rn maps), policy that aims to reduce the detriment to society (represented by collective risk) also requires to investigate the distribution of risk. Due to different factors contributing, Rn hazard and risk maps look differently.

Decision QA: Decisions to comply with regulation can have far-reaching economical and political consequences. They must therefore be legally proof, which means that their elements must be QAed. This implies QA of all steps whose result is a decision; therefore one speaks of the QA chain. Part of QA is estimation of uncertainty, which for decisions means assessment of the chance of ill-decision.

Temporal dynamic of radon concentration: Maps that visualize the spatial dynamic of Rn concentration, usually have long-term means as their target variable. However, indoor Rn in particular is known to be subject to strong temporal variability. This is practically relevant if decisions about action must be based on measurements shorter than one year. The question is: Under which circumstances and how can one derive reliable decisions about whether certain action (such as remediating a building) is necessary.

Mapping techniques: Maps are important tools to visualize the presence of ambient hazards and resulting risks, and thus are important as decision support. This has motivated, among other, the European Atlas of Natural Radiation 4 which covers Rn among other agents that may represent environmental hazards. Global Rn mapping is in discussion since recently. Progress in mapping techniques is still ongoing, in particular regarding inclusion of multiple predictors and classification problems, typically delineation of Rn priority areas.

The South East European Institute for Sustainable Technologies, SEEIIST, has put forward as its main scientific goal the realisation of a “Facility for Tumour Hadron Therapy and Biomedical Research” in South East Europe. Such an initiative will strengthen local scientific expertise in its field of research, provide this unique treatment option for cancer patients in South East Europe and support the development of a sustainable economy and social cohesion in the region. The facility is expected to also stimulate the development of complementary technologies and to trigger spin-offs. To maximise benefits it is planned as a regionally distributed facility with hubs in different countries offering numerous opportunities for technology transfer and benefits to South-East European industry as well as international cooperation opportunities.

Thanks to the first financial support of theEuropean Commission (DG RTD) and the EU funded HITRIplus project state-of-the-art particle accelerator design and related technology are developed in collaboration with the main European research centres such as CERN and GSI-FAIR. In order to stimulate related capacity building in the SEE region, in support of such projects, a broad spectrum of activities is being developed to address diverse communities spanning from high-school students to professionals and will be outlined in this presentation.

In 2019, a pandemic caused by the new Sars-Cov-2 virus around the world led to major health and socio-economic problems. The appearance of the new virus was associated with a complete lack of understanding of its effect on the human body and related to mortality. However, modern techniques of molecular biology and the use of PCR tests have helped to isolate and identify the virus structure. Modern biotechnology methods have been used in virus isolation, identification of genes encoding viral particles, identification of new strains and possibilities of synthesis of viral protein plasmids and finally in their application in-vitro. Production of the S (Spike) and N (nucleocapsid) proteins of the virus was successful with recombinant hybridization techniques used for various in-vitro tests for stimulation of the cell immune system. Modern science has shown the importance of immunity during illness as well as in response against virus during vaccination. However, in order to understand the pathophysiological mechanism of disease development and immune changes associated with disease development, flow cytometer immunity tests have made it possible to examine different populations of peripheral blood cells simultaneously with determination of cytokines by ELISA techniques. These techniques, together with in-vitro cell cultures, may show the effects of pathogens on cell function. Depending on the concentration of C and N proteins, the effect on human lung cells, on lymphocytes isolated from healthy volunteers as well as on convalescent samples has been shown, and complex pathophysiological mechanisms of virus action on the immune system have been confirmed. This paper also shows that after vaccine administration, the cellular population of the immune system is stimulated, as assessed by multicolor flow cytometry techniques. However, further research is needed to answer many other unresolved questions about the possibility of eradicating this disease and how long the effect of existing vaccines will last.

Nuclear Forensics Science has been defined by the IAEA as “a discipline of forensic science involving the examination of nuclear and other radioactive material, or of other evidence that is contaminated with radionuclides, in the context of legal proceedings” [1]. Nuclear Forensics is an important element in a state’s nuclear security architecture and serves to address the treats of nuclear smuggling, nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism [2]. Nuclear Forensics Science includes set of analytical methods used for determination of properties of the materials that can help in getting more information on the origin and/or intended use of these materials. A combination of parameters that is required is referred as “signatures”. The analytical methods that are mostly used belong to radioanalytical chemistry, but there are also aspects of material science, geochemistry, nuclear physics, etc. The continuous improvement of measurement techniques, the exploration of novel signatures and the application of data analysis contribute to further advancing this discipline [2].

This presentation will give an overview of the methods that are commonly used in the area of Nuclear Forensics. The novel approaches and current trends in the area will be elaborated. A special attention will be devoted to the use of gamma spectrometry as a non destructive analytical method in Nuclear Forensics. Most of the countries that belong to Western Balkan region are currently in the process of developing capabilities and knowledge needed for nuclear forensics practice.

Literature:
[1] International Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Forensics in Support of Investigations, IAEA Nuclear Security Series No.2-G (Rev.1).
[2] Varga, Z., Wallenius, M., Krachler, M., Rauff-Nisthar, N., Fongaro, L., Knott, A., Nicholl, A., Mayer, K., Trends and perspectives in Nuclear Forensic Science, TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Volume 146, January 2022, 116503.

Since the introduction of the first mobile telecommunications network in the early 80's, a new generation (technology) of mobile networks emerges every about ten years. The fast adoption of mobile phones by the general public has rendered necessary the installation of base stations inside the urban environment and in densely populated areas, where demand for mobile services is higher. As a result, the anthropogenic radiofrequency radiation of portable devices and base station antennas has been exposing humans for some decades now, leading to concerns about the potential health effects of this radiation.

Exposure assessment to environmental radiofrequency fields is of importance to both epidemiological and compliance studies. In this talk I will present numerical and experimental techniques that are used for evaluating human exposure to the radiation of mobile telecommunications networks. I will also show the temporal and spatial changes of the electromagnetic environment at a short and long scale. The effect of introducing new network generations will also be discussed.