Staff Review of 'Radioecological Assessment of the Wyhl Nuclear Power Plant': Analysis of the Report Prepared by the University of Heidelberg, West Germany

摘要

The Heidelberg Report presents an assessment of the environmental radiological impact of a proposed pressurized-water reactor to be built near Wyhl, West Germany. The assessment is based largely on mathematical models that are used to calculate doses to humans in the area surrounding a reactor site and describe the movement of radioactive materials in the environment. These are the same mathematical models that are used by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in licensing reactors in the United States. The NRC uses these models to make sure that any radiation exposure due to a reactor is far below national and international recommended 'safe' levels, as well as below natural radiation levels. The NRC staff reviewed certain parts of the Heidelberg Report because the report implied that the NRC may be substantially underestimating doses to individuals living near nuclear power plants by using incorrect values for parameters in the mathematical models. Although the Heidelberg Report assessment is based largely on environmental models described in four NRC Regulatory Guides, the NRC staff's review of the Heidelberg Report indicates that the Heidelberg authors used values for some model parameters that are too high.