In this contribution, the results of the radioactivity bio-monitoring of the Vltava River before (1996-2000) and after (2000-2003) the start-up of the PWR-type South Bohemian nuclear power plant are presented. The liquid radioactive effluents are discharged into the Vltava River, which also serves as a source of drinking water intended for Prague. The bio-monitoring was made by means of water plants and freshwater bivalve that are found along the watercourse. Biological samples were processed and then the activity of natural and man-made radionuclides was assessed by gamma-spectrometry. The analysed statistical data did not prove any impact of the three years NPP operation on the Vltava River radioactivity.

Information on options for managing contaminated food production systems and inhabited areas has been systematically recorded in a datasheet format and published as compendia of countermeasures. As only subsets of these management options are likely to be required in the event of a radiological incident, generic handbooks to aid decision makers in the selection and combining of options have been developed for use in Europe, in close collaboration with stakeholders. The handbooks contain relevant scientific and technical information, details of the factors influencing implementation of management options, compendia of datasheets and a decision aiding framework comprising for example, of look-up tables, flow charts, decision trees and colour-coded selection tables. Guidance is also provided on customisation of the handbooks and how to engage with stakeholders. Demonstration of the handbooks in emergency centres confirmed their value for both contingency planning and incident management. The demonstrations also provided valuable feedback on aspects which could be further improved. A Handbook Users Group (HUG) was established for managing feedback on the generic handbooks and to provide a forum for information exchange on customised versions in the future.

Soil-grass-milk is one of the main food chains leading radioactivity in man in Finland. From 1963 onwards dairy and farm milk and from 1972 deposition have been regularly collected at several sites in Northern Finland; some grass and AIV-silage samples have been taken simultaneously. 137Cs and 90Sr have been analysed by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) in the Regional Laboratory in Northern Finland. In this study the activity concentrations and decrease rates of 90Sr and 137Cs were studied in the years following the atmospheric nuclear weapon testings and after the Chernobyl accident in 1986 until 2008. Also the transfer factors were calculated and the ecological half-lives were estimated in the study. The concentrations of 90Sr and 137Cs were highest in the beginning of 1960 due to the nuclear weapon tests. The radioactive fallout in Finnish Lapland from the Chernobyl accident in April 1986 was low. The increase of the 137Cs concentrations in milk was found out in July 1986 and it decreased rapidly after summer 1987. There was no increase of 90Sr concentrations in milk and in deposition after Chernobyl fallout.

Dosimetric control: report of French submarine forces from 1989 to 1999.We report on the Ile Longue strategic site and describe the medical and dosimetric monitoring of nuclear submarine crews. Over the past eleven years, dosimetric results of nuclear submarine crews have been gathered. We have compared these results to those of workers employed by outside enterprises and the directorate of naval constructions. During this period, neither the crew members nor the workers have been over-exposed. Considering each group, we show a more or less distinct diminution of equivalent doses.

The evaluation of the rehabilitation strategies implemented in the contaminated territories of the CIS countries affected by the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant highlighted the need and importance to involve the population in the day-to-day management of the radiological situation, to complement the rehabilitation programme implemented by public authorities. The ETHOS experience in Belarus has revealed that to be effective and sustainable, this involvement must rely on the dissemination of a practical radiological protection culture within all sectors of the population and especially within professionals in charge of public health. The objective of the SAGE Project is to contribute to the development of strategies and guidance for implementing and disseminating such a culture in Western Europe, in case of a nuclear incident or accident with long-term radiological consequences. This paper presents the structure of the project, the stakeholder involvement process which has driven its realisation and the handbook on practical radiation protection culture which was elaborated, with different associated computer tools for people living in a contaminated territory.

L’article dresse le bilan des études présentées lors des journées scientifiques francophones co-organisées le 2-3 octobre 2003 à Sochaux par la SFRP (Société française de radioprotection), la SFPM (Société française de physique médicale) et la FIRAM (Association francophone pour le développement et l’utilisation des logiciels de simulation d’interaction rayonnement matière). L’article s’attache tout particulièrement à restituer de ces journées internationales, la synthèse des tendances actuelles dans le domaine du développement et de l’utilisation des codes de calculs en radioprotection, en radiophysique et en dosimétrie.

As part of the improvement of calibration techniques for in vivo counting, the Laboratory of Internal Dose Assessment of IRSN has developed a computer tool, “OEDIPE”, to model internal contamination in voxel phantoms, to simulate in vivo counting and to calculate internal dose. This software was used to model the real distribution of activity in the lungs of a baboon analyzed in the Laboratory of Radiotoxicology of CEA. This experiment provided the opportunity to study the influence of the heterogeneity of lung retention on the in vivo counting and to quantify its effect on the assessment of activity by comparison with a simulated homogeneous retention of the same total activity. The results show that the numerical simulation can be a relevant tool to reveal the heterogeneity of lung retention, allowing a determination of calibration factors adapted to heterogeneous contaminations that would be impossible by standard calibration with physical anthropomorphic phantoms.

La réglementation applicable au thorium a été analysée, car elle peut, dans certaines circonstances, prêter à confusion. L'expression “ thorium naturel " étant réservée à l'association de deux émetteurs alpha (le thorium 232 et le thorium 228), cette définition ne prend pas en compte les émetteurs bêta et gamma de la filiation du 232Th. L'ambiguïté est majorée par le fait qu'il n'existe pas de différence entre le thorium naturel et le thorium utilisé dans l'industrie. La nouvelle réglementation, découlant de la directive européenne 96-29, prend en compte la radioactivité des émetteurs naturels et devrait permettre une évolution dans la protection des travailleurs.

This paper is intended to present the experience feedback of the IRSN's involvement in the reflection on the management of a nuclear crisis. It sums up some results of the French FARMING working group, corresponding to the mobilization of a wide range of Agricultural Technical Institutes and to the appraisal of a compendium of agricultural countermeasures for the rehabilitation of rural contaminated territories in post accidental situations. Indeed, in France, since a few years, this problem has been almost exclusively considered by radiation protection experts, with no involvement of the other concerned actors. But according to the weight of the agro industrial sector in this country and to the problems related to the management of contaminated food in post accidental situations, the cooperation between radiation protection experts and agro industrial stakeholders appeared more and more necessary. Indeed, above all, farmers and other local actors would take a significant part to the rehabilitation actions from the short term to long term of a nuclear crisis period and then share the responsibilities of the crisis management. The working group has therefore opened new debates at the national level and valuable results have been obtained from the meetings at technical and strategic levels.

Radionuclides in the environment require regular monitoring to establish activity concentrations and make reliable dose estimates. This study examines the variability in selected radionuclide activity concentrations at a variety of spatial scales and assesses the resulting errors in dose estimates. The Ribble Estuary, UK provides an ideal location to conduct non-destructive tests (β-dose rate measurements) due to the discharge of 234Th and $^{234\textrm{\tiny{m}}}$Pa from the BNFL fuel fabrication plant at Springfields (Lancashire, UK). This estuary also receives Sellafield derived radionuclides after transport through the Irish Sea. Results indicate that significant errors in external beta and gamma dose assessments may result from the use of single sediment activity concentration or dose values to represent an area of contaminated sediment. For example, in an area only 1m × 1m square, a field coefficient of variation for beta dose may be as high as 25%, even when there are no visible textural or compositional variations to account for this, and this increased to 83% at the 100×100m scale. Erroneous conclusions on the nature of change in time-series measurements can be made if local field variability has not been assessed and allowed for when planning the monitoring programme.

Surface, intermediate and near-bottom water samples were collected at two of the North East Atlantic radioactive waste dumping sites (47∘ 14’N, 05∘ 33’W and 45∘ 27’N, 06∘ 16’W) in the course of a sampling campaign in June–July 1998. Analysis of 239,240Pu concentrations show no significant differences with respect to measured concentrations in waters taken from control (background) stations well removed from the dumping sites.

L'analyse des données sur les niveaux de l'irradiation naturelle en Chine apermis de recommander des valeurs types pour l'irradiation gamma terrestre, àl'intérieur et à l'extérieur des habitations, ainsi que l'équivalent de dose efficacepour les produits de filiation du radon et du thoron. On estime à 2,3 mSv l'équivalent de dose efficace annuel dû à l'irradiation naturelle des habitants, dont 0,54 mSv dû au rayonnement gamma terrestre et environ 0,8 mSv dû au radonet à ses descendants à vie courte.

In aquatic ecosystems, sediments constitute a reservoir for many of the most persistent chemicals that are introduced into surface waters. Sediments provide a habitat for various benthic macroinvertebrates, which could be exposed to sediment-associated chemicals both directly and via food intake. These organisms play an important role on the structure and the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Among the non-biologically essential metals, data concerning uranium (U) fate and effects on freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates are sparse. The present study aimed at estimating effects of a chronic U exposure on Chironomus riparius larvae. To achieve this goal, a 10-d laboratory bioassay was performed exposing, via the sediment, first instar larvae to a gradient of U concentrations (0, 2.97, 6.07, 11.44, 23.84 μg U/g dry wt). Significant negative effects on mortality, development time and growth were detected at 6.07, 6.07 and 2.97 μg U/g dry wt, respectively. The results underlined a possible impact of U at the population level at environmentally occurring U concentrations. This study confirmed the need for more research on the role of U on benthic macroinvertebrate.

L'estimation qui est faite actuellement des risques sanitaires liés à la gestion des déchets nucléaires à vie longue est incomplète si elle ne tient compte que des aspects radiotoxiques. Bien que cette approche soit justifiée à l'égard d'un grand nombre de radionucléides inventoriés, elle ne peut cependant être exclusive et généralisée : la toxicité chimique doit être considérée notamment lorsque la période radioactive d'un radionucléide excède 105 ans. Pour évaluer la toxicité chimique ou radiologique d'un radionucléide, on peut confronter une dose de référence appliquée à la consommation d'eau de boisson (0,1 mSv/an) avec les informations toxicologiques existantes. L'organisation mondiale de la Santé l'a fait pour l'uranium naturel et recommande une valeur guide pour l'eau de boisson, fondée sur sa toxicité chimique (2 μg/l). La démarche adoptée par l'OMS est reprise ici en vue de montrer que la toxicité chimique potentielle d'un élément est une donnée à intégrer dans l'estimation du risque sanitaire des radionucléides à vie longue.

Selenium is essential for most of living organisms. In normoxic to moderately hypoxic freshwaters, Se exists predominantly in the (+VI) and (+IV) oxidation states as selenate and selenite respectively, whereas in the biota it is incorporated as Se (-II) or Se (0). At low concentrations, it acts against oxidative damages, but it may be toxic at higher levels. In filter feeders, such as the freshwater bivalve Corbicula fluminea, the ventilatory activity is a primary limiting step that controls the water influx and therefore the delivery of contaminants. A number of different parameters such as algal food density or presence of contaminant can influence the ventilation and hence the bioaccumulation potential of the contaminant. We report here a set of short-term experiments performed to study the effects of different forms of dissolved Se (selenite, selenate, selenomethionine) and algal-bound Se on the ventilatory activity of Corbicula fluminea and to evaluate the Se bioaccumulation. All experiments were performed on a 3-day exposure period after acclimatizing the organisms during a 7-day period to the synthetic water, at a regulated algal density. Both bioaccumulation and ventilatory activity of Se exposed groups, in comparison to these of the reference group, varied greatly according to the form of Se used.


Temporal changes in radionuclide transfer factors were evaluated in forage fishes over a 40- to 50-year period. In general, 90Sr, 60Co and 137Cs transfer factors fairly consistent over time, as indicated by strong correlations between measured and estimated values. This conclusion was further strengthened by comparing radionuclide transfer factors measured in Perch Lake biota relative to those reported for other Canadian Shield lakes, since similar values were found. Despite these similarities, however, within-lake differences of up to an order of magnitude were observed for a given species collected in a given year, suggesting that within lakes, there may be factors influencing biota exposure to radionuclides and/or bioavailability. 


Depuis la mise en service de l'usine de retraitement des combustibles irradiés dela Hague en 1966, l'efficacité des moyens employés pour épurer les effluentsradioactifs liquides a été multipliée par un facteur 600. Le comportement chimiquedu 106Ru déterminé dans les rejets déversés en mer et en deux stationsd'observation proches de l'émissaire, a évolué parallèlement à l'évolution desprocédés d'épuration. La méthodologie de type “voie humide” basée surl'entraînement de l06Ru par le sulfure de cobalt a permis de répondre auxobjectifs de protection de l'environnement et aux impératifs de production. Lecomportement du radionucléide a alors été celui des complexes du nitrosylruthéniumchimiquement peu réactifs, générés au cours de la mise en solution descombustibles en milieu nitrique. A partir de 1989, la vitrification des effluentsles plus marqués par ce type de complexation et l'optimisation du procédé parvoie humide ont permis de limiter les rejets liquides de 106Ru. Parallèlement,l'inertie chimique du radionucléide s'est atténuée. Les mesures de radioactivitéde l'algue Fucus serratus déterminées in situ montrent que la disponibilité de106Ru à partir de l'eau de mer dépend étroitement de l'hydrolyse des complexesdu nitrosylruthénium. Les produits d'hydrolyse du radionucléide paraissent êtreles formes privilégiées des échanges avec l'algue pour laquelle le facteur deconcentration est évalué à 500 ± 350.

A “Facility-Exposure Matrix” (FEM) is proposed to assess exposure to chemical carcinogens and radionuclides in a cohort of nuclear workers. Exposures are to be attributed in the following way: a worker reports to an administrative unit and/or is monitored for exposure to ionising radiation in a specific workplace. These units are connected with a list of facilities for which exposure is assessed through a group of experts. The entire process of the FEM applied in one of the nuclear centres included in the study shows that the FEM is feasible: exposure durations as well as groups of correlated exposures are presented but have to be considered as possible rather than positive exposures. Considering the number of facilities to assess (330), ways to simplify the method are proposed: (i) the list of exposures will be restricted to 18 chemical products retained from an extensive bibliography study; (ii) for each of the following classes of facilities: nuclear reactors, fuel fabrication, high-activity laboratories and radiation chemistry, accelerators and irradiators, waste treatment, biology, reprocessing, fusion, occupational exposure will be deduced from the information already gathered by the initial method. Besides taking into account confusion factors in the low doses epidemiological study of nuclear workers, the matrix should help in the assessment of internal contamination and chemical exposures in the nuclear industry.

A risk related Value of Spend for Saving a Statistical Life (VSSSL) is proposed for cost-benefit studies across the power generation sector, and the nuclear industry in particular. An upper bound on VSSSL is set based on the UK government standard of around £1M or, in particular circumstances, £2M and the observation that excessive spend (probably of the order of more than £5M per statistical life) will cost lives. Above a risk of 10-3 a-1 it is assumed that VSSSL approaches a value around £2M (broad range £1M to £5M). At risks around 10-6 a-1 it is proposed that an appropriate VSSSL lies at £0.5M (range £0.25M to £1M). Where risks to the individual fall to the order of 10-9 a-1, or less, a low residual VSSSL of £0.01M is applied. A practical example is explored with respect to radiological protection where a total collective dose determination is disaggregated to resolve broad bands of individual exposure, and hence risk. Where collective doses are dominated by individual doses no more than a few μSv, the detriment arising from a manSv can be valued at about £15k to £60k, which can have a major effect on cost-benefit approaches to spend decisions.