The worldwide NORM production and a fully automated gamma-ray spectrometer for their characterization

Materials containing radionuclides of natural origin, which is modified by human made processes and being subject to regulation because of their radioactivity are known as NORM. We present a brief review of the main categories of non-nuclear industries together with the levels of activity concentration in feed raw materials, products and waste, including mechanisms of radioisotope enrichments. The global management of NORM shows a high level of complexity, mainly due to different degrees of radioactivity enhancement and the huge amount of worldwide waste production. The future tendency of guidelines concerning environmental protection will require both a systematic monitoring based on the ever-increasing sampling and high performance of gamma ray spectroscopy. On the ground of these requirements a new low background fully automated high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer MCA_Rad has been developed. The design of Pb and Cu shielding allowed to reach a background reduction of two order of magnitude with respect to laboratory radioactivity. A severe lowering of manpower cost is obtained through a fully automation system, which enables up to 24 samples to be measured without any human attendance. Two coupled HPGe detectors increase the detection efficiency, performing accurate measurements on sample volume (180 cc) with a reduction of sample transport cost of material. Details of the instrument calibration method are presented. MCA_Rad system can measure in less than one hour a typical NORM sample enriched in U and Th with some hundreds of Bq/kg, with an overall uncertainty less than 5%. Quality control of this method has been tested. Measurements of certified reference materials RGK-1, RGU-2 and RGTh-1 containing concentrations of K, U and Th comparable to NORM have been performed, resulting an overall relative discrepancy of 5% among central values within the reported uncertainty.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, 6 table

National cultural autonomy and linguistic rights in Central and Eastern Europe

The theory and practice of national cultural autonomy (NCA) are examined from the perspective of national minorities’ linguistic rights in four countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE): Hungary, Estonia, Serbia and Russia. The idea of NCA dates back to the end of the nineteenth century and is based on the principle of ethnic communities’ autonomy—within a multi-ethnic state—to manage their own linguistic and cultural affairs. The notion of NCA was rediscovered in the 1990s and incorporated into the law and practice of the said four countries. Using a comparative approach, the chapter reflects upon NCA’s potential contribution in advancing the linguistic rights of national minorities in CEE. It concludes that, while the actual autonomy afforded to minority institutions in CEE is often restricted, NCA may serve as a platform to articulate concerns of great salience to national minorities, encompassing minority participation and multilingual education