The Official Journal of the European Union publishes in its issue of July 16th 2010, Commission Decision of 15 July 2010 on the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concerning the EUropean Radiological Data Exchange Platform, EURDEP.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the European Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concerning the EUropean Radiological Data Exchange Platform, EURDEP, the Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agree to cooperate in the area of global real time radiation data exchange for verification and other emergency purposes. Both Sides also agree that they will act in close cooperation and consult each other in regard to matters of common interest whenever this may be appropriate in the light of their respective mandates.

Scope for Commission/IAEA cooperation concerning EURDEP

• Without prejudice to its intellectual property rights therein, the Commission will share the software, including any updates or changes thereto, developed for collecting and presenting real time radiation levels within the European area (the European Radiological Data Exchange Platform with the IAEA
• The Commission and the IAEA will seek to ensure that all radiation data is freely available in the  same manner to all national data providers
• The IAEA will coordinate support to and promote the exchange of real time radiological monitoring data with all of its Member States that do not already have an agreement with the Commission, with a view to establishing a joint Commission-IAEA global system under a different name based on the EURDEP technology
• Mirrors of the EURDEP website will be implemented and operated by the Commission and the IAEA. The IAEA will promote regional mirror data sites and will make the software and technology available only to organisations mirroring the data
• The Commission and the IAEA will coordinate to ensure that there are no inconsistencies jeopardising the global exchange of radiation monitoring data.

EU/IAEA Cooperation precedents. Spreading the EURDEP format

The European Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) already expressed their mutual determination to significantly reinforce the quality and intensity of their cooperation in a Joint Statement signed in 2008. Radiation protection, including making worldwide real time radiation monitoring data available, has been identified as one of the specific priority areas of cooperation.

Using the proven technology developed by the European Commission for the EUropean Radiological Data Exchange Platform,  EURDEP, will therefore be an excellent way to facilitate automatic exchange of data, and represents an important contribution to the global development of environmental radioactivity monitoring.

The common data format EURDEP as well as the appropriate Internet based network which allows to facilitate continuous and seamless exchange of data provided by the national automatic dose rate monitoring networks and the environment radiation surveillance programmes, have suficiently proven their validity within the European Atomic Energy Community and are now considered mature enough for expansion.