CONCENTRATIONS AND FLUXES OF NATURALLY-OCCURRING ELEMENTS AND RADIONUCLIDES AS COMPLEMENTARY SAFETY INDICATORS IN PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

摘要

A study has been performed to quantify the mass and radioactive fluxes of elements and radionuclides arising due to natural processes (physical and chemical weathering, groundwater flow and river flow) in Japan. These fluxes were then evaluated in the context of using natural fluxes as a basis for assessing the safety of repository releases to the biosphere. This work demonstrates that it is possible to quantify natural fluxes in a manner directly comparable to performance assessment predictions of repository releases. Since the radiological impact of natural fluxes is broadly understood and since natural and repository fluxes can be assessed on a comparable basis, this suggests that natural fluxes can be used as a complementary safety indicator to dose and risk.