How is air monitored?
Charcoal traps, high efficiency filters and scrubbers are used to remove fine particles or gaseous nuclides from any airborne discharges. These devices are managed as solid waste. Monitoring of airborne releases is on a continuous basis, and ANSTO has four sampling stations at its site boundary. Independent checks are carried out by ARPANSA. Away from the ANSTO site, the levels of radioactivity in the air are too low to be measured. A computer model using wind information gathered over the years to calculate radiation doses at various off-site locations shows the annual doses to the community are less than 0.01 mSv per year; that is, less than one per cent of the allowable 1mSv per year dose limit for the general community. The procedures used to process and monitor radioactive waste are strictly controlled. ANSTO is subject to stringent regulation by its independent statutory regulator, ARPANSA. ANSTO also continually carries out environmental monitoring, and publishes a comprehensive
