Maximum Individual Dose and Vicinity-Average Dose for a Geologic Repository

Abstract

ABSTRACTRecent proposals for a new U.S. standard for high-level waste disposal would limit the average dose to individuals in the vicinity surrounding a geologic repository. This would be a new approach to protecting the public from environmental releases of radioactivity. Heretofore, criteria adopted for geologic disposal have limited the reasonable maximum exposure to a future hypothetical individual. Here we present quantitative analyses of the relation between maximum exposure and vicinity-average exposure, resulting from future human use of ground water contaminated by radioactive releases from a repository.Estimating the vicinity-average exposure would require postulates and guesses of location and habits of future people. Exposure probabilities postulated by others show that proposed dose limit to the vicinity-average individual would be a far more lenient standard than the traditional dose limit to reasonably maximally exposed individuals. The proposed vicinity-average dose limit would allow far greater concentrations of contaminants in ground water than would be allowed by normal standards of ground water protection. A safety standard that limits vicinity-average exposure should also include limits on maximum exposure.