Limitation of the release of radioactive effluents

Abstract

During the last years there has been a change of emphasis in the criteria determining the amounts of radioactive materials which can be permitted to be released from nuclear installations. It was previously often considered sufficient to limit the release of radioactive material to the environment by limiting the concentrations of the various radionuclides in air an4 water effluents, the limit usually being a fraction of the Maximum Permissible Concentration recommended by the ICRP in 1959 for application in radiological work. Obviously this procedure does not prevent substantial amounts of radioactive material reaching the environment if the effluent rates are high, nor does it prevent the possibility that ecological concentration processes might cause high concentrations in certain environmental materials resulting in unexpectedly high doses in members of the public. In many cases these eventualities were taken into account by introducing safety factors in the concentration limits or sometimes in the amounts allowed to be released. The present trend of sophistication in radiation protection philosophies has a corresponding influence on waste disposal policies, in particular relating to the limitation of environmental releases and to the assessment of radiological significances of such releases.