In more recent times, ERL has branched its capabilities out into radiological habits surveys. Habit surveys aim to assess the habits of a chosen population within a specific area, which includes the activities they undertake in and the food that they consume from that specific area. Here we have estimated an individual’s habits using a variety of techniques encompassing face to face surveys, postal surveys, attending stakeholder meetings and volunteers wearing GPS trackers.
All of this information taken from a sample of the population is then combined with modelled radionuclide dispersal concentrations, validated with field dose rate measurements, to unfold what the likely dose each individual would receive each year. From this a representative is found.
Habits surveys tend to be conducted every few years around a population in close vicinity to a nuclear establishment or an area of higher risk to inform environment regulators the potential exposure pathways a population is vulnerable to and whether these change over time with changing habits.
Below is a photograph of the happy team.
