A survey of user requirements for a UK radioactivity measurement infrastructure for nuclear decommissioning.

The UK nuclear industry is in transition from operation to decommissioning. Many of the nuclear stations built in the latter half of the last century are now reaching the end of their useful lives, and the industry is having to deal with the many technical challenges of decommissioning and site remediation. One of these challenges is the need to measure very low levels of radioactive contamination bound to (or within) any of a wide range of physical matrices (e.g. building materials) for which compositional data is often not available. Some organisations within the nuclear industry had expressed concern over the lack of standards and Reference Materials in this area. Consequently, NPL is to establish a Measurement Infrastructure for Nuclear Decommissioning to address this problem and related needs. In order to define the priorities for the infrastructure, NPL has carried out a survey of users and stakeholders. A limited review of current guidance and training initiatives has also been carried out. The outcome of this project is summarised.