An approach to identifying the relative importance of different radionuclides in ecological radiological risk assessment: application to nuclear power plant releases
Beaugelin-Seiller, Karine; Howard, Brenda J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9698-9524; Garnier-Laplace, Jacqueline. 2019 An approach to identifying the relative importance of different radionuclides in ecological radiological risk assessment: application to nuclear power plant releases. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 197. 116-126. 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.11.011
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract/Summary
There is a need to prioritise the requirements for data to assess the radiological risk for fauna and flora, as inevitable large data gaps occur due to the large number of combinations of radionuclides and organisms for which doses need to be assessed. The potentially most important dose-forming radionuclide-pathways combinations need to be identified to optimize filling these gaps. Few attempts have been made to classify the importance of isotopes with regard to radiation protection of the environment. A hierarchical approach is described here for radionuclides that are potentially present in generic ecosystems (freshwater, marine or terrestrial) and is applied for scenarios considering ecologically relevant chronic exposure. In each ecosystem, the top ten radionuclides that may contribute to doses were identified using a qualitative Chronic Hazard Index. Including quantitative aspects by incorporating discharge quantities changed the priority list, and increased the relative importance of radionuclides contributing most to the authorized releases of nuclear facilities (14C and 3H followed by 60C). The potentially most important dose-contributing radionuclides in the framework of environmental radiation protection under a chronic exposure situation included isotopes of about 20 elements. The five most important in order of decreasing importance were: carbon, hydrogen, caesium, cobalt and americium. Consideration of acute exposure situations was hampered by data gaps that were even greater than that for chronic exposure situations, so it was only possible to consider the feasibility of developing a consistent approach.
Item Type: | Publication - Article |
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Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2018.11.011 |
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas: | UKCEH Fellows |
ISSN: | 0265-931X |
Additional Keywords: | radioecology |
NORA Subject Terms: | Ecology and Environment |
Date made live: | 06 Mar 2019 11:26 +0 (UTC) |
URI: | https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522433 |
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