Near Real-time Characterization of Radio-contaminated Soils in France: Challenges and Methods

Abstract

Over the last 10 years, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique) has set up an innovative methodology aiming at characterizing radiological contaminations. The application of the latter relies on various tools such as expertise vehicles with embedded measurement devices and a recently developed software platform called Kartotrak. A Geographic Information System tailored to radiological needs constitutes the heart of the platform; it is surrounded by several modules aiming at (i) sampling preparation, (ii) data analysis and geostatistical modeling and (iii) real-time monitoring and data acquisition.

This paper presents a methodological framework for the follow-up of decontamination projects, from doubt removal to the verification of the decontamination process. The use of the radiological characterization methodology and its related developments leads to a better appreciation of the contamination and, most importantly, to the optimization of the waste volumes and the reduction of the global cost of the remediation process.