According to the Articles 35 and 36 of the Euratom treaty each member state of the EU shall have the system of radiological monitoring which allows assessment of exposure of population and present monitoring data to other states.
Requirements for radiological monitoring are given in the appropriate Lithuanian legislation. The basis for the system of monitoring and procedures used is the Commission Recommendation of 8 June 2000 on the application of Article 36 of the Euratom Treaty concerning the monitoring of the levels of radioactivity in the environment for the purpose of assessing the exposure of the population as a whole. The appropriate order of ministers of environment and health were prepared and approved on October 7, 2002.
This order describes networks of monitoring, types of samples, frequencies of measurements, treatment of data and their presentation to interested national institutions, public and European Commission. Software Easy Proteo is used for data recording and analysis.
The Radiation Protection Centre performs monitoring of mixed diet, milk and drinking water. Measurements of ambient dose equivalent and radioactivity in precipitations are also performed.
Monitoring of mixed diet is done with the aim of determination of concentrations of long lived artificial radionuclides Sr90 and Cs137. Measurements of radioactivity are also performed in local raw foodstuff (milk, fish, potatoes, cabbages, cereal, wild berries and mushrooms).
Gross alpha and beta activity in drinking water is determined with the aim of assessment of doses due to this source. According to Lithuanian legislation it shall be less than 0.1 mSv per year.
The whole Lithuanian territory is covered by the dense network of monitoring of mixed diet. Milk and drinking ware is sampled every quarter at 7 points, meat and fish – twice per year, vegetables and cereal – at the end of summer, wild berries and mushrooms – during the season of their vegetation.
Milk, drinking water and cooked food are sampled in the sparse network in Vilnius each month.
