Monitoring Locations
Shannon Airport
Live Monitoring Station
The RPII carries out several monitoring programmes to determine the levels of radioactivity in the environment and the doses received by the Irish population.
External radiation levels and particulates in air are continuously monitored. In addition, rainfall is continuously collected.
Samples of seawater, seaweed, sediment, fish and shellfish are collected from the marine environment.
Samples of drinking water, milk, ‘complete meals’ and individual foodstuffs are collected from the land.
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Types of sampling at this station
- Gamma Dose Rate
- Air
- Rainwater
Gamma dose rate provides a measure of the amount of energy a body receives from the surrounding gamma radiation.
This radiation is always present and occurs naturally. Gamma dose rate is measured in units of microsieverts per hour (µSv/h). The normal gamma dose rates vary with local geology and typically range from 0.05 to 0.12 µSv/h. These dose rates include a component of 0.03 µSv/h due to cosmic radiation. The long term gamma background level at this location is 0.083 µSv/h.
If a radioactive 'cloud' reaches Ireland, these gamma detectors will detect the associated elevated radiation levels and an alarm will be triggered.
A phenomenon known as radon washout can cause short-term increases in gamma radiation levels which may be observed in the above plot as peaks in the data.
We also sample rainwater at this location. If elevated radiation levels are caused by any other means than radon washout the rainwater would be analysed for the type and amount of radioactivity.
Results of the monitoring can be seen in our latest report Radioactivity Monitoring of the Irish Environment.
More recent monitoring data is also available and is updated on an on-going basis.
Results of monitoring show that the levels of man-made radioactivity in foodstuffs and the environment are detectable but the levels are low and are of no health risk to the public.