PRACTICAL GUIDANCE ON THE REGULATORY MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE LIQUID DISCHARGES FROM MEDICAL, EDUCATIONAL AND...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Radiation Protection
• Nuclear Safety

Background:

• Regulatory requirements necessitate radiological impact assessments for liquid discharges.
• Laboratories, hospitals, and research facilities using short-lived isotopes face these assessment challenges.
• Existing assessment methods may lead to overly conservative dose estimations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address regulatory management challenges in radiological impact assessments.
• To provide a practical calculation toolbox for realistic dose derivation.
• To validate the proposed methodology against existing models.

Main Methods:

• Development of a simple calculation toolbox for dose estimation.
• Validation of the methodology through comparison with other established models.
• Application of the method to case studies in Greek hospitals and research institutions.

Main Results:

• The proposed method achieves more realistic estimations of induced doses from liquid discharges.
• Significant reduction (several orders of magnitude) in initial screening dose estimates was observed.
• The toolbox facilitates regulatory compliance by providing sound, realistic dose data.

Conclusions:

• The developed calculation toolbox is an effective tool for radiological impact assessment.
• The methodology simplifies the process of ascertaining regulatory compliance for liquid discharges.
• This approach supports more accurate environmental radiation protection practices.