Bioaccumulation Factor for Radium in Rio Grande Biota
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or Laboratory) Environmental Protection and Compliance Division’s Environmental Stewardship Group (EPC-ES) performs the radiological analysis portion of biota dose assessments using the computer program RESRAD-Biota (DOE 2004, DOE 2020). RESRAD-Biota uses a default bioaccumulation factor, Biv, for radium in aquatic animals. This bioaccumulation factor, also listed in Department of Energy (DOE) Standard, DOE-STD-1153-2019, is the ratio of a radionuclide concentration in fresh weight biota to the environment in which it resides, which for aquatic animals is water. DOE-STD-1153-2019 offers conservative values for these ratios that are specific to the radiological contaminant, the biota, and the environment. The Biv in RESRAD-Biota can be used for general screening (Level 1 screening). If the factor proves to be too conservative, then a site-specific Biv may be used. The biota dose assessment of fish from the northern New Mexico region of the Rio Grande fail the general screen, which indicates that further analysis is necessary. Level 2 analysis is site-specific but still has conservative limitations. Level 3 analysis is a more realistic and representative, sitespecific analysis. The purpose of this paper is to use data specific to the Rio Grande to calculate a new aquatic animal radium Biv. This Biv can then be used for Level 3 analysis of aquatic animals specifically in the northern New Mexico region of the Rio Grande. The calculated radium Biv is a useful value for performing detailed, accurate biota dose assessments and calculating dose to fish using RESRAD-Biota when only sediment data are available.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001
- OSTI ID:
- 2997624
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR--25-29809
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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