Radiation Exposure of the UK Population from Airborne Effluents Discharged from Civil Nuclear Installations in the UK in 1978

摘要

An assessment is made of the radiation exposure of the UK population from airborne effluents discharged in 1978 from civil nuclear installations in the UK. The results are, however, presented in a manner whereby the dose from discharges in other years can be readily estimated. The total collective dose and the contribution from each nuclear establishment are evaluated; in addition, attention is given to the distribution of the collective dose both in time and among the exposed population as these features may be important in judging the significance of given collective dose. The total collective effective dose equivalent commitment is estimated to be about 14 man Sv; about one half is delivered within a few years of the discharges, with the remainder delivered fairly uniformly over a period of several thousand years. Carbon-14 is the major contributor to the total collective dose and to that from many of the individual nuclear establishments; other significant contributors are caesium-137, uranium, argon-41, tritium and some transuranic nuclides. Iodine-129 and krypton-85 make major contributions to the collective dose equivalent commitments to the thyroid and skin, respectively, but not to the effective dose. (Atomindex citation 14:717418)