Assessing the possible radiological impact of routine radiological discharges from proposed nuclear power stations in England and Wales

Abstract

The aim of this work is to assess the possible radiological impact on the population of the United Kingdom (UK) from new nuclear power stations proposed for up to eight sites in England and Wales. The radiological impact was measured in terms of collective dose to the UK, European and world populations from a single year's discharge integrated to 500 and 100 000 years and the annual dose to an average member of the UK population (known as the per-caput dose). The doses were calculated for two reactor types, UK EPR™ and AP1000™, using the annual expected discharges estimated by the designers of the reactors and assuming two reactors per site. In addition, typical individual doses to adults living close to the sites were calculated on the basis of continuous discharges for 60 years (the assumed lifetime of the reactors). The dose to a representative person (previously known as the critical group) was not calculated, as this has been done elsewhere. The assessments were carried out using the software program PC-CREAM 08(®) which implements the updated European Commission methodology for assessing the radiological impact of routine releases of radionuclides to the environment. The collective dose truncated to 500 years to the UK population was estimated to be 0.5 manSv assuming UK EPR reactors on all sites and 0.6 manSv assuming AP1000s on three sites with UK EPRs on the other sites. The most significant contribution to the collective dose to the UK population is due to the global circulation of carbon-14 released to the atmosphere. The annual dose to an average member of the UK population from all sites was calculated to be around 10 nSv y(-1) and would therefore contribute little to an individual's total radiation dose. All the calculated doses to a typical adult living near the sites assuming continuous discharges for 60 years were found to be below 1 μSv y(-1).

Assessment of radiation exposure and public health before and after the operation of Sanmen nuclear power plant

“…However, emission of radioactive debris or effluents into the environment through air and water might be inevitable during its operation. The atmospheric and liquid discharges from an AP1000 reactor estimated by Westinghouse were 1.1 × 10 13 Bq and 3.3 × 10 13 Bq, respectively, which are comparable with releases from a 1,000 MWe pressured water reactor in Europe (8). Therefore, it is important to assess the impacts of the operation of SNPP on the radiation safety of the surrounding environment and the local public, and evaluate the merit of AP1000 technology toward radiation protection.…”