The main and independent responsibility of the Health and Safety department is to maintain important health, safety and environment (HSE) functions at institute level. The Department has broad experience and expertise in radiation protection, radioecology and radioactive waste and constitutes an important integral part of the Norwegian nuclear accident emergency preparedness system.
The Department operates modern and well equipped laboratories for personnel dosimetry, calibration of health physics instruments and measurement and radiochemical analysis of radioactive materials. The Department also carries out assessments and scientific research related to its fields of competence.
On main task is to ensure that use and handling of radiation sources and radioactive materials are in agreement with national laws, regulations and guidelines and with recommendations from international organisations.
Another task is surveillance of discharges of radioactive nuclides to air and water from IFE’s nuclear activities at Kjeller, to ensure that the discharge limits given by the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority are not exceeded.
The Department provides services for industry, health institutions, research establishments and national authorities in the areas of radiation protection, analysis of radioactive materials, radioecology and radioactive waste.
The Department’s research activities include the joint Norwegian-Russian investigations of radioactive contamination in the Arctic areas as well as radioecology projects within the EU’s 4th and 5th framework programmes and Nordic safety research co-operation. The Department also takes part in several projects related to radiation protection and radioactive waste, such as measurements, analysis and guidance in connection with decommissioning of platforms and other installations used in the oil and gas industry.