Radiological Impact of 1993 Operations at the Savannah River Site
An offsite individual residing at the SRS boundary at the point of the maximum exposure (maximum individual) received a dose of 0.11 mrem from SRS atmospheric releases in 1993 (See Table 1 for a 5-yr history of doses). This dose was only 1.1% of the EPA public dose limit of 10 mrem/yr (DOE, 1990). Tritium oxide releases were responsible for 90% of the atmospheric dose. Ninety-nine percent of the atmospheric dose was accounted for with the inclusion of I-129, U-235, U-238, Pu-238 and Pu-239. The 50-mile population received a collective dose of 7.6 person-rem from 1993 atmospheric releases. Ninety-nine percent of this dose also resulted from the release of the same isotopes that dominated the maximum individual dose due to atmospheric releases. For both the individual and the population, atmospheric radiation dose was dominated by the inhalation and vegetation consumption pathways. The maximum dose received by an offsite individual as a result of SRS liquid releases in 1993 was 0.14 mrem (See Table 1 for a 5-yr history). This does was only 3.5% of the EPA limit for drinking water of 4 mrem/yr (DOE, 1990). This dose was dominated by Cs-137 accumulated in Savannah River fish and tritium in drinking water. More than 99% of the maximum individual dose from liquid releases resulted from tritium, Sr-90, Cs-137,and Pu-239. The population dose from liquid releases in 1993 was 1.5 person-rem. Again, tritium, Sr-90, Cs-137, and Pu-239 contributed more than 99% of this dose. The major exposure pathway to the population was drinking water. Radiation dose to the general public from operations at the Savannah River Site continued to be a very small fraction of the natural background dose. A resident of the CSRA receives about 300 mrem per year from background radiation. The population within 80 km of the SRS (620,000) and at the downstream water treatment facilities (65,000), therefore, received a natural background population dose of approximately 200,000 person-rem during 1993.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- OSTI ID:
- 64814
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-RP-94-457; ON: DE95060110; TRN: 95:014277
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 28 Oct 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
APPLIED STUDIES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
05 NUCLEAR FUELS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
RADIATION DOSES
TRITIUM
CARBON 14
IODINE 129
STRONTIUM 90
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM 239
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
RIVERS
CESIUM 137
PROGRESS REPORT
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems