The Yenisey River belongs to one of the main Siberian water systems flowing into the Arctic basin. Technogenic radionuclides have entered this system due to activities at the Krasnoyarsk Mining and Chemical Combine (KMCC), situated approximately 40 km downstream from the city of Krasnoyarsk (Zheleznogorsk), which began operations in August of 1958 (start-up of the first straight-through reactor, a second reactor was operated from 1961). In the period of 1958 to 1992 the river channel and flood plain were exposed to contamination at great distances downstream from the waste discharge point. Various long-lived radionuclides were measured in the environment such as 137Cs, 60Co, 152Eu, 154Eu with half-lives of 30.2, 5.3, 13.3 and 8.6 years correspondingly. Both reactors were decommissioned in 1992 and since then radionuclide discharges to the river have decreased by several tens of times.

Although some radioecological studies have been accomplished in Brazilian soils supplying useful information to optimization of emergency planning actions in rural areas and to the management of soils contaminated by 137Cs, 60Co and 90Sr, few studies were made with transuranic elements in tropical agricultural areas. The different scenarios found in Brazilian agricultural environments enhance the importance of studying the biogeochemical behavior of radionuclides in representative soils. The objective of this work was to determine the mobility of 241Am in 3 different Brazilian agricultural soils evaluating migration with depth and Kd values for 241Am and the effect of organic amendments on this behavior. A strong effect of organic amendments on mobility of americium could be observed. The values of Kd obtained in all studied tropical soils were however smaller than those found in European soils and from those recommended by IAEA to be used as default values in the absence of regional data. This result reinforces the vulnerability of some tropical soils to a contamination, emphasizing the need to use of regional values.

European computerised decision support systems are currently targeted for large accidental atmospheric contaminant releases from nuclear installations. To make these systems applicable also for malicious dispersion events, such as ‘dirty bomb’ blasts, a series of modifications and extensions are necessary. Also European decision support handbooks need supplementary sections to cover the features of these types of scenarios. An overview is given of the requirements.

The area affected by the Chernobyl accident has become a unique test site where long-term ecological and biological consequences of a drastic change in a range of environmental factors as well as trends and intensity of selection are studied in natural settings. The consequences of the Chernobyl accident for biota varied from an enhanced rate of mutagenesis to damage at the ecosystem level. The severity of radiation effects was strongly dependent on the dose received in the early period after the accident. The most exposed phytocenoses and soil animals’ communities exhibited dose dependent alterations in the species composition and reduction in biological diversity. These findings make a valuable contribution to scientific and public understanding of the environmental risks of ionizing radiation and to debates on the environmental costs, benefits and risks of nuclear energy.

The Urban Areas Working Group is part of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s EMRAS II (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety) Programme. The goal of this Working Group is to test and improve the capabilities of models used in assessment of radioactive contamination in urban settings, including dispersion and deposition events, short- and long-term contaminant redistribution following deposition events, and potential countermeasures or remediation efforts for reducing human exposures and doses. The Working Group has developed three modeling exercises, which are designed to permit intercomparison of model predictions and, in one case, comparison of model predictions with measurements. This paper describes the scenarios and provides comparisons of initial modeling results. Reasons for similarities and discrepancies among model predictions are discussed in terms of the modeling approaches, models, and parameter values used by different assessors. Preliminary conclusions emphasize the value of explaining individual approaches and the importance of understanding the effects of different assumptions and parameter values on the modeling results.

Over the last 5 years France gained a feedback on its NORM industries situation. Regulation imposes to the operators to assess effective doses for workers and members of the public. Theses data were used to update the list of industrial sectors to be regulated for NORM use or storage.

Over the last 20 years, the French public services’ actions in the field of polluted areas have continuously evolved from the inventory of potentially polluted areas to the statement of a general framework on the management. Initially designed for chemical pollutants, main guidelines have been implemented for radioactive substances. The general framework is presented hereafter and illustrated with a real example.

A multi-step project has been developed by eni r&m to define a TENORM (Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) management system in refinery plants, compliant with Italian regulations and international guidelines.

The project involves a preliminary survey on refineries to detect, on the basis of the production process, the sections at risk of TENORM accumulation; this analysis is followed by the consequent formation/information to the workers, dose assessment for workers and the public, introduction of radiometric characterization before release of potentially contaminated waste.

Radioactive releases in the environment around civilian nuclear facilities have significantly decreased over the last few decades, with the exception of tritium. In late 2007, papers published in the UK (RIFE 11 report, study by the HPA’s Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation (AGIR)) raised questions as to the behaviour of tritium in the environment. Given this context, ASN wanted to get a clear analysis of the existing studies into the issue and in early 2008 decided to establish two independent pluralistic working groups. Two main points of the discussions are on the bioaccumulation and the biological effects.

In the end of 2007, ASN launched an internal reflexion on the information of the public on the radioactivity levels in the environment. The aim was to develop a radioactivity environment scale or index, based on existing scales used for air pollution. After the presentation of a demonstration model by ASN in 2008 to HCTISN, a working group (WG) was constituted in the beginning of 2009 by ASN with stakeholders with the approval in March 2009 of the goals to be reached by this index: a communication instrument to qualify the information of the radioactivity levels in the environment, consistent with INES, particularly when sanitary consequences may occur, easy to elaborate from the available measured values of radioactivity and always usable for any location, independently of an incidental or accidental situation.

One challenge in the analysis of far future radiological effects of a deep geological repository is to handle changes in time on ecosystems potentially affected. Under Swedish regulations, the time span that needs to be assessed is 100,000 yrs or more. This has historically been treated by using a reference biosphere that, in short, takes into account the total data range of the site properties that may change with different climates and sites. One problem with this strategy has always been to show that these reference biospheres have relevance for a specific site. To overcome this problem, SKB has adopted a strategy that uses site specific information together with scientific literature to build a narrative. This narrative describes the site development during a 100,000-yrs period (time frame of the present global glacial cycle). The information is used to compile a number of models that describe how the succession of abiotic and biotic features and their properties will develop at the site. The resulting Landscape Development Model is finally used in two ways: to tell the narrative of the site development based on scientific understanding and interdisciplinary consensus, and to populate the Radionuclide Model that is used to describe the effects of released radionuclides in a changing environment.

In Finland, Olkiluoto Island on the western coast has been selected as a repository site for spent nuclear fuel. Due to the shallow sea areas around the island, the postglacial land uplift is going to change the landscape within the next millennia. For instance, new lakes and mires will develop on the present offshore areas. Concerning radionuclide transport models, the properties of the future ecosystems surrounding Olkiluoto Island can be forecast based on the properties of present lakes and mires. Due to the lack of site-specific data, lakes and mires of various successional stages were selected within a larger geographical area as analogues of the future ones. Here we present an example of a systematic process for selection of appropriate analogue sites.

The CERES application (Code d’Evaluations Rapides Environnementales et Sanitaires) has been developed by CEA. It is used to evaluate the consequences on human health of releases of isotopes in the environment, either for emergency planning or for safety evaluation. Various types of emissions can be simulated: atmospheric accidental emission, atmospheric emission during normal operation or emission in liquid media under normal operation. Two versions exist, one devoted to radiological impact, the other one devoted to toxic impact.

Forsmark in Mideastern Sweden is chosen as site for the planned Swedish deep-rock repository for spent nuclear fuel. The construction, operation and decommissioning of the repository require assessments of various types of risks for health and environment on a wide range of temporal scales. This study is focused on the assessment of environmental impacts during the relatively short construction and operation phases, during which the repository will be kept drained by means of groundwater diversion. This diversion may influence hydrogeological and hydrological conditions and thereby cause ecological and other types of consequences in the surroundings of the repository. We here describe methodology and some main findings from the ecohydrological assessment of consequences for aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in Forsmark. The assessment combines the results of a number of steps, including ecological field inventories and predictive water-flow modelling. The results of the study show that subsurface disposal of radioactive waste is an important application of ecohydrological concepts in assessments of sites with nature values.

The radiation risk due to the exposure to natural radionuclides, especially to short-lived radon progeny, is a component of the radiation hazard, common in the natural environment and working environment. In Polish mining industry the radiation hazard, caused by natural radionuclides is the natural hazard. Radon in air and radium present in underground brines are sources of radiation hazards. Sediments precipitated out from such waters with enhanced radium content may cause the increase of external gamma radiation dose rate as well as internal contamination due to accidental ingestion or inhalation.

Investigation of that specific problem has been started in hard coal underground mines in Poland in early 1970’s. At the end of 1980’s first regulation was issued. Dose limits and requirements of the radiation monitoring have been established, internal regulations for monitoring and mitigation measures were developed on the basis of the Polish standard. The monitoring and prevention against natural radiation is obligatory in all Polish underground mines since 1989. This duty is strictly supervised by local offices of State Mining Authority in co-operation with other governmental agencies.

One of the most serious problems occurring during coal extraction in Upper Silesia in Poland is caused by waters with high salinity which also often contain high concentrations of natural radionuclides, mainly 226Ra and 228Ra. Similar phenomenon is also observed in oil and gas industry. On the Norwegian continental shelf, substantial amounts of produced waters containing elevated levels of 226Ra and 228Ra are discharged to the sea. All of these facts outlined elsewhere in the reports serious resulted in contamination of wide areas surrounding mines and other related industries. Research studies conducted so far have provided a lot of data concerning the scale of this phenomenon. But nowadays, all of them should be reconsidered in the light of newest recommendation of the state of-the-art radiation protection. Namely, such waste deposited directly into the environment creates significant risk to the non-human biota that currently must be assessed as well. On the other hand, such scenario of exposure to ionising radiation creates a good opportunity to observe potential effects of low and protracted doses to the living organisms occurring on contaminated areas, especially plants.

Technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) touch many aspects of our life. Alterations of the natural composition of rocks during mining and processing may results in an increment of radiation risk to not only humans but wild plants and animals. Each particular type of TENORM determines a unique scenario of exposure. The “PORANO” project is focused on three aspects related to this theme:

• methods of monitoring of TENORM occurrence,

• methods of applying radiation risk assessment,

• regulation improvement.

In January 2009, the IAEA EMRAS II (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety II) program was launched. The goal of the program is to develop, compare and test models for the assessment of radiological impacts to the public and the environment due to radionuclides being released or already existing in the environment; to help countries build and harmonize their capabilities; and to model the movement of radionuclides in the environment. Within EMRAS II, nine working groups are active; this paper will focus on the activities of Working Group 1: Reference Methodologies for Controlling Discharges of Routine Releases. Within this working group environmental transfer and dose assessment models are tested under different scenarios by participating countries and the results compared. This process allows each participating country to identify characteristics of their models that need to be refined. The goal of this working group is to identify reference methodologies for the assessment of exposures to the public due to routine discharges of radionuclides to the terrestrial and aquatic environments. Several different models are being applied to estimate the transfer of radionuclides in the environment for various scenarios. The first phase of the project involves a scenario of nuclear power reactor with a coastal location which routinely (continuously) discharges 60Co, 85Kr, 131I, and 137Cs to the atmosphere and 60Co, 137Cs, and 90Sr to the marine environment. In this scenario many of the parameters and characteristics of the representative group were given to the modellers and cannot be altered. Various models have been used by the different participants in this inter-comparison (PC-CREAM, CROM, IMPACT, CLRP POSEIDON, SYMBIOSE and others). This first scenario is to enable a comparison of the radionuclide transport and dose modelling. These scenarios will facilitate the development of reference methodologies for controlled discharges.

The present work has been done within the IAEA Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety Programme. EMRAS-II aims to improve the capabilities in the field of environmental radiation dose assessment by means of acquisition of improved data for model testing, comparison, reaching consensus on modelling philosophies, approaches and parameter values, development of improved methods and exchange of information.

A new information system for archiving and reporting the RPII’s environmental radioactivity monitoring data has been designed. The main objectives of the proposed system are: centralised storage of these data in a standard format; and standardised reporting and exporting functionality. This paper presents a conceptual model and prototype of the proposed system.