First mobile lab for radioactive investigations to appear in Moldova

A mobile laboratory for radioactive investigations will be donated to Moldova under a TACIS technical assistance program. This will be the first laboratory of the kind, Ionel Balan, the vice director of the National Regulatory Agency on Nuclear and Radiology Activity, told Info-Prim Neo. The lab could be used, for example, when radioactive material is seized from smugglers or is discovered elsewhere and there is a need to urgently investigate it to assess the threats and the security measures to be taken. The laboratory is a minivan equipped with special equipment, including a high resolution spectrometer, portable spectrometers and radiometers, protection kits a communication system. The laboratory will arrive in Moldova in mid-December. The cost of the equipment and the training for the lab operators is about 700,000 euros. On October 17, the National Regulatory Agency on Nuclear and Radiology Activity received a donation in the form of equipment to be used for locating and studying radioactive sources.