The term NORM stands for Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. It refers to materials found naturally in the environment (e.g. minerals) that contain naturally-occurring radioactive isotopes. These isotopes are generally present in very low concentrations in the earth’s crust, but they can reach both industrial workers and the general population through industrial activities and also through natural processes. The term NORM also covers airborne radioactive isotopes produced by the interaction of cosmic radiation with materials in the earth’s atmosphere.

This course provides an introduction to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM), the industries where it may be encountered, how it can be measured and how NORM industries are regulated. A basic grounding in physics or chemistry is assumed.

This course consists of four modules:

• Module 1: Introduction to NORM
• Module 2: NORM measurement
• Module 3: NORM in different industries
• Module 4: NORM legislation and regulation

This course has been created as part of the EU MetroNORM project, and results from the collaboration between NPL, CEA (France), CIEMAT (Spain), CMI (Czech Republic), ENEA (Italy), IJS (Slovenia), IST (Portugal), MKEH (Hungary), NRPA (Norway), STUK (Finland), BOKU (Austria), GIG (Poland) and SURO (Czech Republic), co-ordinated by BEV/PTP (Austria).