Research
The strategic motivator for STUK’s research activities is practicality: research topics are prioritised on the basis of social demand, the need for new information and the contribution to radiation safety. Taking into consideration the conditions and prospects typical of Finland is part of this practical orientation.
International assessments have found STUK’s research to be of high quality, and it has been recommended that Finland seek membership in the UNSCEAR. Decisions in the matter are made by the UN General Assembly. STUK cooperates with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to achieve membership.
The EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research starts in 2007. A new programme field involves security research. The Programme’s research themes are well in line with the objectives that STUK has defined for its own research activities. This enables STUK to make a strong contribution to radiation protection research carried out in the EU.
Changes in the understanding of risks from ionising radiation?
In 2006–2010 STUK will coordinate a wide-ranging European-Canadian research project that aims to reassess the risk paradigm of ionising radiation. New findings indicate that non-targeted effects on cells may change the cancer dose response at low doses, meaning that the linearity assumption applied for decades in radiation protection may no longer be valid as such. The research is groundbreaking even on a global scale.
Research on the health effects of ionising radiation carried out in STUK’s laboratory will be used to support the reassessment of radiation risks. Topical research themes during the strategy period include low radiation doses, non-targeted effects of radiation, non-cancer diseases and individual susceptibility.
Research on the effects of non-ionising radiation focuses on radio frequency radiation (mobile phones). Possible health detriments will be surveyed using epidemiological studies, and also the biophysical impact mechanisms of radiation and individual susceptibility will be studied. In the field of ultraviolet radiation, research will focus on the effects of the solarium-derived UV radiation on melanoma.
Time to revise the action levels for indoor radon concentration?
Recent joint European health research has shown a link between radon and lung cancer in situations where exposure takes place at indoor radon concentrations below the current action levels. In the strategy period, STUK will determine whether the levels confirmed in 1993, need to be revised.
Modern construction methods are prone to high radon concentrations if radon prevention is not taken into account in design. On the other hand, most of the old flats and houses that exceed the action level still wait to be repaired. STUK studies prevention methods and arranges campaigns to promote radon-safe building jointly with environmental authorities.
STUK’s research activities continue in developing the measurement of radiation doses, good practices for optimising patient exposure and preparedness for radiation accidents. A new field of research focuses on radiation protection for living organisms, the goal being to put the future policies drawn up by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) into practice.
Another new field of emphasis is the development of measurements to meet the needs of security control and security arrangements. The objective is to efficiently counteract radiation and nuclear terrorism. This task calls for measurement methods that cooperating authorities, such as the police and customs, can easily use in their field work. In addition to this, environmental analytics is developed for the identification of rare radionuclides, possibly employed in criminal use of radiation.
Environmental monitoring
One of the permanent duties of STUK is to survey our living conditions from the point of radiation safety. Analyses of environmental samples provide information about the occurrence of radioactive substances in the environment, drinking water, foodstuffs and humans. A national network of measurement stations provides real-time information about the dose rate of external radiation in Finland.
Environmental monitoring also functions as an alarm system for potential radiation accidents. All abnormal observations are investigated and their reasons are determined and reported.
