Bristol team help boost Chornobyl radiation monitoring

The scientists will work on systems within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ) and inside the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP).  

Chornobyl, previously known by its Russian name Chernobyl, was the scene of one of the most infamous nuclear disasters when a crippled reactor exploded in March 1986, back in the Soviet era.

The outbreak of war following Russia’s attach on Ukraine raised the prospect of further environmental and human risk. Chernobyl lies just north of the Ukraine capital Kyiv and even closer to the border with Russia’s ally Belarus.

Project partners include the University of Bristol’s School of Physics, its Interface Analysis Centre research group, and the university-wide South West Nuclear Hub (SWNH) alongside partners from industry, as well as collaborators from the Institute for Safety Problems at Nuclear Power Plants (ISPNPP) of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU). 

The project is part of the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS). Its wider work includes addressing the increased threat of extremist and state-sponsored groups acquiring and utilising unconventional weapons, including improvised nuclear explosive and radiological dispersion devices  - such as dirty bombs - highlighted recently and more prominently by the war.

The Bristol team said that radiation detection, monitoring and response provision to protect infrastructure and populations from dispersion of radioactive material needed to harness advances in detector physics, ‘big data’ and cloud computing. Sensor technologies, when combined with robotic platform and cloud computing could be employed to address on decommissioning challenges, for example.

Project lead and Academy of Engineering Research Fellow Dr Peter Martin commented: “This is an incredibly timely project, with the award of funding from NATO to sponsor this joint UK-Ukraine research enabling scientists and engineers from both countries to collaborate across a number of key nuclear and radiation detection challenges. 

“We have worked with colleagues from across Ukraine for a number of years and are excited to work with them through this award to restore and advance their native capabilities."

Prior to the conflict, Ukrainian nuclear organisations British Ambassador to Ukraine visited Bristol in January 2022, together with Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding.

The venture’s Ukrainian Deputy Project Lead, Dr Viktor Krasnov commented: “In addition to the development of new technologies, which will provide the expected high contribution to improving radiation and nuclear safety at nuclear power facilities, the launch of this project at such a difficult time for Ukraine shows an example of real and effective support for Ukrainian science. The implementation of this project in the most difficult conditions of the post-accident Chornobyl is a guarantee of solving similar problems in any corner of the world.”