Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland Laboratories

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) is Ireland's expert voice on ionising radiation.

RPII established their first laboratory in a building designed by RKD Architects in 1986; in 2010 RPII appointed RKD for the total upgrade and refurbishment of their laboratories. RKD undertook an extensive review of the RPII work practices and laboratory flows; this revealed that the building had not kept pace with evolutions in work practices. Following a full review of the current and international best practice for radiological laboratories a scheme was developed involving the demolition of all internal walls and the creation of a new open-plan laboratory that would accommodate current work practices while anticipating changes being considered by the European Radiological Authorities.

This new proposal allowed for centralised preparation area, wash up, glass store, segregated fridge areas, and an isolated drying (oven) area. All the measurement areas had their air flows corrected to avoid any imbalances occurring in the equipment being used by RPII.

Part of the work practices of RPII involve the rendering of fish, meat and milk products. To assist in the handling of these products powder hoods were installed with night time regulated controls that assisted defrosting and preparation of these products for analysis. Likewise similar extraction was provided in the drying rooms to assist the more productive use of the open plan areas.

The laboratory has also been equipped with an isolation area for the handling, testing and containment of high risk samples. This area can be hermetically sealed and has a separate dedicated air handling and filtering system.

The laboratory area is also used for the final preparation of Radon sample kits prior to being packaged for dispatch as well being the first receptacle area for return Radon pads for testing. All of this is contained and separated by process and personnel flows designed to remove human error from the process and handling of the pads and packs.

The latest sustainable laboratory practices were also integrated into the final scheme with balanced hoods and air flow regulation aimed to reduce the energy being expended in the operation of the lab. This was achieved and RPII reported a significant drop in their energy bills following the installation.