Relative Hazard of DWPF Reference Glass Canister ICRP 2 Vs ICRP 30

摘要

The hazard of SRP high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in a glass canister was calculated relative to uranium ore with BEIR III dose-effect estimates and with dose constants from ICRP Publication 2 and ICRP Publication 30. With ICRP 2 constants (which are the current basis for DOE and NRC standards) the waste is calculated to have equivalent hazard to the uranium ore at about 300 years. The proposed constants in ICRP 30 increase the time for equivalency to about 400,000 years, although they decrease the absolute hazards. This change is caused predominantly by a large decrease in the dose constant for Ra-226 and a large increase in the constant for Np-327 in ICRP 30. Ra-226 is a daughter product in the Pu-238-U-234 decay chain in HLW and is in secular equilibrium with U-238 and U-234 in uranium ore. Np-237 is a daughter product of the Pu-241-Am-241 decay chain. If the ICRP 30 dose constant for Np-237 is reduced as has been recommended recently, the time for hazard equivalency of HLW and uranium ore is reduced to 30,000 years. Again it should be emphasized, although the hazard of HLW relative to uranium ore is higher and lasts longer with ICRP 30, the absolute hazard is less than with ICRP 2. (ERA citation 08:032558)