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| Environmental Science - Radiological Assessments |
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| A valid discharge authorisation is one of the prime requirements of a nuclear licensed site. We have extensive experience in providing full technical support for the application of discharge authorisations for licences sites. Preparation of the application to discharge is overseen by the licensee. There are various stages in the process including the assessment of likely discharges over the authorisation period, and the production of a set of consistent discharge figures for normal operating scenarios. |
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| To judge the acceptability of such scenarios, the radiological impact of these discharges on the local population and the critical group is assessed, and the doses compared to relevant regulatory criteria. These assessments have several stages. |
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| The first is the ability to model the dispersion of radionuclides discharged under authorisation throughout the environment. For a complex site, both aerial and marine discharges arise. For marine discharges, we have developed and maintained the leading model that describes the dispersion of material discharged from the marine pipeline throughout the northern Irish Sea. |
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| For aerial discharges, industry standard models for boundary layer dispersion are used, with specific data obtained from the site. Both these models allow the prediction of the time dependent concentration of radionuclides in environmental media at key locations around the site. |
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| River models may also be created using MIKE11 to assess the impact of accidental liquid discharges of radioactivity into the rivers around the site. Dose assessments are carried out for people receiving external exposure from the contaminated river water immediately downstream from the discharge, and for seafood consumers. Using the environmental dispersion models as a starting point, bio-accumulation models are used to predict concentrations in all relevant parts of the foodchain, taking into account local agricultural and fishing practices. The final part of the process is to arrive at a description of the groups of people in the local and wider community who are likely to incur elevated dose as a result of their exposure via local environment or the consumption of locally produced foodstuffs at higher than usual levels. These are commonly referred to as critical groups, and the dose to these groups is generally used to demonstrate regulatory compliance. Data required include consumption rates of local produce and amount of time spent in local areas. |
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| Our assessments may combine the results of specially designed monitoring campaigns undertaken by ourselves, or may use data supplied by a third party. We are thus familiar with the processes of obtaining field data and in dealing with interpretational problems which arise where data supplied or available is not of the optimum quality. In particular, we have experience in: |
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- Radiological and conventional environmental impact assessments.
- Radiological assessment of natural emissions from industrial processes.
- Model validation using discharge information on krypton and argon.
- Interpretation of particle size analysis of dust particles at a mining site and predictions of levels of contaminants inhaled by workers.
- Historical reconstruction from environmental records of airborne pollutants in different plants of a complex industrial site, and from these, estimating cumulative exposures of plant workers to heavy metals and naturals.
- Investigating the impact of a sealock gate on the hydrodynamics and sediment transport of an estuary.
- Interpretation of monitoring methods and results supplied by customers in a number of industry sectors.
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| As part of our assessment capability, we have considerable experience in: |
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- Radiological dose assessment, food chain, surface and ground water, and aerial dispersion modelling services.
- Development of bespoke assessment tools.
- Numerical model review and model inter-comparisons.
- Model validation.
- Expert elicitation of parameter values, probabilistic and uncertainty analysis.
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| We have developed and maintained a validated suite of codes which allows the assessment of doses to critical groups once their habits have been defined. These build on the experience of many workers in the field, and have been used successfully for several discharge authorisations for a variety of BNFL sites, notably Sellafield, Chapelcross, Capenhurst, Drigg and Trawsfynydd. |
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| Contact |
| For more information about radiological assessment services or to discuss how we could provide you with the radiological assessments you need, please contact: env.assessments@westlakes.ac.uk |
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| Alternatively, please contact the Environmental Science Administration Office: esadm@westlakes.ac.uk (Tel: 01946 514094). |
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