Krypton-85 health risk assessment for a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant

Technical Report · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6510974· OSTI ID:6510974

Mellinger, P J; Brackenbush, L W; Tanner, J E; Gilbert, E S

The risks involved in the routine release of /sup 85/Kr from nuclear fuel reprocessing operations to the environment were compared to those resulting from the capture and storage of /sup 85/Kr. Instead of releasing the /sup 85/Kr to the environment when fuel is reprocessed, it can be captured, immobilized and stored. Two alternative methods of capturing /sup 85/Kr (cryogenic distillation and fluorocarbon absorption) and one method of immobilizing the captured gas (ion implantation/sputtering) were theoretically incorporated into a representative fuel reprocessing plant, the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant, even though there are no known plans to start up this facility. Given the uncertainties in the models used to generate lifetime risk numbers (0.02 to 0.027 radiation induced fatal cancers expected in the occupational workforce and 0.017 fatal cancers in the general population), the differences in total risks for the three situations, (i.e., no-capture and two-capture alternatives) cannot be considered meaningful. It is possible that no risks would occur from any of the three situations. There is certainly no reason to conclude that risks from /sup 85/Kr routinely released to the environment are greater than those that would result from the other two situations considered. Present regulations mandate recovery and disposal of /sup 85/Kr from the off gases of a facility reprocessing spent fuel from commercial sources. Because of the lack of a clear-cut indication that recovery woud be beneficial, it does not seem prudent to burden the facilities with a requirement for /sup 85/Kr recovery, at least until operating experience demonstrates the incentive. The probable high aging of the early fuel to be processed and the higher dose resulting from the release of the unregulated /sup 3/H and /sup 14/C also encourage delaying implementation of the /sup 85/Kr recovery in the early plants.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6510974
• Report Number(s): PNL-5209; ON: DE84017437
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050800 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
052001 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
054000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Health & Safety
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
560151 -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Man
560161 -- Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology-- Man
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ADSORPTION
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
DATA
DISTILLATION
DOSES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
KRYPTON 85
KRYPTON ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
OFF-GAS SYSTEMS
PERSONNEL
POPULATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION HAZARDS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOISOTOPES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SORPTION
SPUTTERING
THEORETICAL DATA
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES