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Published on: October 21, 2016
Radiocesium in the Savannah River Site environment
W H Carlton1, C E Murphy, A G Evans
1Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Savannah River Technology Center, Aiken, SC 29808.
Health Physics
|September 1, 1994
Summary
Radiocesium releases from the Savannah River Site impacted the environment, with most liquid releases remaining on-site. Doses to individuals and populations were estimated from these historical nuclear material production activities.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Nuclear Chemistry
- Radiological Assessment
Background:
- The Savannah River Site (SRS) has a history of producing special nuclear materials, including plutonium and tritium.
- Operation of SRS facilities, such as reactors and processing plants, resulted in radiocesium waste product releases into the environment.
- Historical releases occurred from 1955 to 1989.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify historical radiocesium (137Cs) releases from the Savannah River Site into the atmosphere and water bodies.
- To assess the environmental distribution and impact of these radiocesium releases.
- To estimate the radiological dose to individuals and populations resulting from these releases.
Main Methods:
- Tracking and quantifying atmospheric and liquid releases of radiocesium (137Cs) from 1955-1989.
- Estimating the fraction of liquid releases that remained on-site.
- Calculating individual effective dose equivalents at the site boundary and population dose within an 80-km radius.
Main Results:
- 130 Gigabecquerels (GBq) of 137Cs were released to the atmosphere and 2.2 x 10^4 GBq to site streams and ponds between 1955 and 1989.
- Approximately 65% of the liquid 137Cs releases were retained within the SRS site.
- Maximum individual effective dose equivalent was 3.3 microsieverts (μSv) from atmospheric and 600 μSv from liquid releases; the 80-km population dose was 1.6 person-Sieverts (Sv).
Conclusions:
- Historical radiocesium releases from SRS have been quantified and their environmental pathways identified.
- The majority of liquid radiocesium releases were contained on-site, limiting off-site contamination.
- Estimated doses indicate a low risk to the public from past SRS operations, though localized impacts occurred.
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