The project will consider several test sites located in the Western Balkan countries and compare them with sites located in the EU or outside: wastes of coal mines and coal burning power plants, as well as from aluminium industry. It will proceed by the investigation of selected occurences for:

• assessing the presence and type of radionuclides in the primary and wastes products, and their parameters
• analysing and identifying the pathways for dispersion of radionuclides (erosion, dust re-suspension, surface water, groundwater) in the neighbourhood of the wastes, and defining the impact of the wastes on the ecosystem.
• assesing the impact on health of the population i n the plants and in the vicinity of the wastes from the presence of radionuclides (gas-emission, inhalation)
• defining the risk from the use of by-products of the wastes (building material that contains fly ash, disposal in engineered surface impoundements and landfills, industrial product based on waste material).

Based on the results of these case studies, the project will:

• examine the radiation protection management and the monitoring practice for the investigated test-sites
• develop recommendations for each type of tailing dump in order to optimise the existing protection and remediation practice

Please find further information on the project partners and the coordinator at: http://cordis.europa.eu/projects/rcn/75650_en.html