Related goal
Releases, the risk of releases and the spread of radioactive substances that may cause damage to health or the environment will be minimised. All radioactive waste will be handled safely and in an approved manner.
Are we moving in the right direction?
Discharges from the oil and gas industry
In 2010, 131 million cubic metres of produced water was discharged from the Norwegian oil and gas industry. Produced water contains the natural radionuclides radon-226 and radon-228 at activity concentrations about 1000 times higher than those in seawater.
Discharges from hospitals and research institutions
In Norway, radioactive nuclides are discharged to the terrestrial environment from hospitals and research institutions. The nuclides discharged in the largest quantities are technetium-99m and iodine-131. Both of these have short half-lives (6 hours and 8.1 days respectively) and they are probably not a major source of pollution.
The Institute for Energy Technology operates two research reactors, one at Kjeller outside Oslo and one in Halden near the border with Sweden. A serious accident at one of the reactors could result in local emissions of radioactivity to air, but the likelihood of major damage to health or the environment is small. Nevertheless, there are contingency plans for such events.