Postdoctoral fellow within Environmental Impact Assessment of naturally occurring radionuclides in the context of multiple hazards   

The Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety (DSA) is the national authority and expert body in matters concerning radiation protection, nuclear safety and non-proliferation, radioactive contamination, and radioactive waste.

About the position

The Section for Research and Development, within the Department of Research and Development and International Nuclear Safety and Security, has a vacant 2-years post post-doc position, from autumn 2022, within the field of Radioecology/Environmental chemistry. Research activities will be conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). The position is organised under the framework of the European multi-disciplinary RadoNorm project (2020-2025), for which the main aims are to provide new knowledge and improved understanding of radon and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) that lead to exposure of humans and the environment, and to provide sound, feasible and applicable solutions for radiation protection (www.radonorm.eu).
 

The main objective of the postdoc position is to gain better insights into the exposure conditions at sites prone to multiple hazards including naturally occurring radionuclides. The dependence of the behaviour of U-238 and Th-232 decay series radionuclides on the presence of other hazards and different environmental parameters will be investigated to provide a better understanding of mobilization and transfer pathways in the environment.

The postdoc candidate will perform fieldwork and theoretical work in close collaboration with colleagues at DSA, NMBU and the RadoNORM project. Communication of the obtained results within the RadoNorm project and in scientific journals and conferences is an essential part of the position. Holding a PhD is pre-requisite for this position. 
 

The postdoc position will be shared by DSA and NMBU in Norway. The DSA is the national authority and expert body in matters concerning radiation protection, nuclear safety and non-proliferation, radioactive contamination and radioactive waste. The NMBU offers interdisciplinary research and study programmes that generate innovations in food, health, environmental protection, climate and sustainable use of natural resources. The postdoc will therefore be supported with supervisors at both DSA and NMBU. For more information about these organizations, please visit www.dsa.no and www.nmbu.no.
 

Main tasks

The postdoc study will mainly focus on investigation of multiple exposures when naturally occurring radioactive materials are co-occurring with multiple other hazardous contaminants, such as rare earth elements and heavy metals. Further optimization and development of an integrated procedure for such an assessment will be required. The following tasks are expected to be undertaken during the postdoc duration:

• An independent literature review of studies showing multiple contaminants, including NORM, REE and actinides, metals and comparison of assessment methodology and obtained results: parameters, exposure scenarios and radiation protection objectives.
• Performance of a multiple contaminant assessment at a chosen NORM exposure site(s) in Norway, with consideration of variations in exposure, mobility, transport, transfer relating to REE metals, heavy metals, pH, redox, TOC, carbonates and other environmental parameters will be planned.
• Publication of results in high impacts peer reviewed journals and collaboration with other scientists within ongoing national and international science projects is expected.

Competence

Required qualification

• PhD in a field relevant to the main tasks, such as radiochemistry, environmental and/or analytical chemistry, radioecology or similar

Preferred qualification and experience

• Experience in international multidisciplinary research
• Experience in fieldwork
• Training and research competence in relevant analytical and radiochemical methods, such as in radiochemistry
• Competence in radiation/chemical exposure assessments and/or radioecology
• Experience with investigation of radionuclides in the environment
• Experience with investigation of metals and other hazards in the environment
• Experience with ICP-MS, gamma and alpha spectrometry

Personal qualities

• Hard working, ambitious and accurate
• Ability to work individually and in teams
• Ability to work in a result-oriented environment
• Good knowledge of the English language – both written and oral
• Good communication skills, both related to the research community and presentations in general

Further information

The position is placed in government pay scale position code 1109 ‘Forsker’ - Postdoctoral Fellow (salary grade NOK 580.00-680.000), depending on qualifications. The position follows ordinary meriting regulations.
For further information, please contact,

Jelena Mrdakovic Popic, Senior Advisor, Section Research and Development  at DSA,  E-mail: Jelena.Popic@dsa.no phone +47 67 16 25 96 or Lindis Skipperud, Professor at NMBU E-mail: lindis.skipperud@nmbu.no phone +47 67231891.