New guidelines on radiation survey of land plots for their sanitary assessment in terms of radiation safety indicators

Introduction: The paper presents an overview of the new guidelines MR 2.6.1.0361-24 (approved on 24 December 2024) that supersede guidelines MU 2.6.1.2398-08, which were used for organizing radiation surveys of land plots for construction of residential buildings, public and industrial buildings and facilities, and their sanitary assessment in terms of radiation safety indicators over the past 16 years. Summary: The scope of the revised document was expanded and now covers not only construction sites, but also territories adjacent to buildings and structures, and public areas, as well as the soil located on the sites and intended for use as building materials. The conditions for compliance of radiation safety indicators with established standards have been adjusted to eliminate contradictions with the current formulations of sanitary requirements. A three-stage approach is proposed to assess the potential radon hazard of land plots. According to this approach, the customer has the opportunity to order a radiation survey at any stage and to complete it after any stage in case of non-compliance of the land plot with the established standards, skipping additional measurements and proceeding immediately to the design stage of radon protective measures. Conclusion: The changes made should make the procedure for conducting radiation survey of land plots and evaluating its results more understandable and transparent, as well as improve the quality of measurement information obtained by testing laboratories, without requiring them to significantly expand the measuring instruments fleet and the list of measurement methods used. Taken together, all this changes should contribute to an increase in the number of new radon-safe buildings where protective measures are implemented preventively.