Radiological environmental monitoring at the ESS facility – Annual report 2021

Results from the radiological environmental monitoring of the European Spallation Source (ESS) are presented for 2021. Previous zero-point assessments (2017-2020) have mainly focussed on terrestrial samples. New sample types for 2021 include a sediment sample from a pond at the ESS and brown seaweed (Fucus) from Lomma bay and from the east coast of Scania (Skillinge). For gamma-emitting radionuclides, increased levels of anthropogenic radioactivity (177Lu and 131I) originating from hospital use, were only observed in sewage sludge samples. For tritium, the majority of the samples had activity concentrations that were below the minimum detectable activity (MDA) of 1.62 Bq l-1. Expected environmental levels, without any evidence of local contamination, were also seen in the 14C data.