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EAN NORM Workshop, Hasselt, November 2011 The fate and behaviour of NORM with respect to environmental protection Boguslaw Michalik Laboratory of Radiometry, Central Mining Institute, Katowice, POLAND ICRP vs. protection of environment „the level of safety required for the protection of all human individuals is thought likely to protect other species, although not necessarily individual members of those species. The Commission therefore believes that if man is adequately protected then other living things are also likely to be sufficiently protected „ (ICRP, 1977, § 14). ICRP vs. protection of environment „The standard of environmental control needed to protect man to the degree currently thought desirable will ensure that other species are not put at risk. Occasionally, individual members of non-human species might be harmed, but not to the extent of endangering whole species or creating imbalance between species. At the present time, the Commission concerns itself with mankind’s environment only with regard to the transfer of radionuclides through the environment, since this directly affects the radiological protection of man „ (ICRP, 1991, § 16). In 2007 the Commission continues to believe that this is likely to be the case… but „…also believes that it is necessary to consider a wider range of environmental situations, irrespective of any human connection with them.” (ICRP, 2007) Trends in legislation IAEA BSS: Safety Principle 7: People and the environment, present and future, must be protected against radiation risks European Basic Safety Standards: Chapter I: Subject matter and scope The scope is broadened to include the exposure of space crew to cosmic radiation, domestic exposure to radon gas in indoor air, external exposure to gamma radiation from building materials, and the protection of the environment beyond environmental pathways leading to human exposure environmental risk caused by NORM Features of environmental impact of NORM residues: physical appearance source geometry, location and possible dispersion models: typical NORM repositories have the appearance of common waste dumps and tend to have more in common with ordinary industrial waste than with spent nuclear fuel or dispensable radioactive sources; total amount: NORM residues are usually bulk materials, e.g. phosphogypsum, slag, sediments, sometimes water; ambient conditions: residues are usually in direct contact with environment, it means that they are exposed to meteorological conditions (water and wind erosion) and unlimited access by biota; Frequently they are associated with other pollutants as heavy metals, sulphates, hydrocarbons. Features of environmental impact of NORM residues: radionuclides fractionation 238U decay chain Remain in native rock U -238 Th -234 Remain in water or Remain in air accumulates in sediment Pa -234 U -234 Th -230 Leaching Ra -226 Rn -222 exhalation Po -218 precipitation exhalation Rn -222 Po -218 Pb -214 Pb -214 Bi -214 Bi -214 Po -214 Po -214 Pb -210 Pb -210 Bi -210 deposition Leaching deposition Bi -210 Po -210 Pb -206 bioaccumulation Pb-210 anthropogenic bioaccumulation Po -210 Po -210 Pb -206 Pb -206 Features of environmental impact of NORM residues: radionuclides fractionation 232Th decay chain Remain in water or accumulates sediment Remain in native rock Th -232 Leaching Ra -228 precipitation Ac -228 precipitation Th -228 Ra -224 Leaching Leaching Th -228 Ra -224 Rn -220 Rn -220 Po -216 Po -216 Pb -212 Pb -212 Bi -212 Bi -212 Po -212 Po -212 Tl -208 Tl -208 Pb -208 Pb -208 Features of environmental impact of NORM residues: activity concentration evolution 226Ra + 228Ra 210Pb 222Rn 228Th + 210Bi and short lived progeny and short lived progeny + 210Po Total 228Ra decay chain Total 226Ra decay chain Total natural radionuclides suite Features of environmental impact of NORM residues: alpha particles within uranium decay series 238 U 234 4.47••109yea rt Pa 234m U 2.45••105yea r 99.37 %230 Th 0.63% 4 1.17min. 234 Th 24.1day 8••10 year 234 Pa 6.7hour 226 Ra 1600 year 222 Rn 218 3.823day 218 At 1.75sekundy 218 Po 3.05min. 214 Pb 0.1% 0.03% 99.9% 99.97 % 26.8min. Rn 0.019sec. 214 214 Po 210 1.64••10-4sec Bi 210 99.96 19.7min. %210 Pb 0.04% Bi 5.01day Tl 1.32min. 99.99995 % 5••10-5% 22.3 year 210 Po 138.4day 206 Pb stable 206 Tl 4.19min. European Basic Safety Standards • Article 76 • Environmental criteria Member States shall include, in their legal framework for radiation protection and in particular within the overall system of human health protection, provision for the radiation protection of non-human species in the environment. environment This legal framework shall introduce environmental criteria aiming to protect populations of vulnerable or representative non-human species in the light of their significance as part of the ecosystem. Where appropriate, types of practices shall be identified for which regulatory control is warranted in order to implement the requirements of this legal framework How to define the critical effect on the environment ? How it should be quantified ? How provide a reliable evidence that environment in well protected? Occurrence of radionuclides = effect on environment Knowing natural radionuclides activity concentration in particular compartment of environment is by far too less to assess any environmental effect ...... Environmental effects ???? an reductionistic approach: Reflected in the concept of „reference organism” • early mortality • morbidity • reduced reproductive success ICRP 2008: Environmental Protection – the Concept and Use of Reference Animals and Plants. ICRP Publication 108 ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION BIOCENOZIS Carnivores Herbivores Primary production BIOTOPE ENERGY FLOW ECOSYSTEM Detritivores Decomposers Autotrophs photoautotrophs chemoautotrophs ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENT TIME - INFORMATION FLOW Effects on biota Interaction of contaminants with living matter takes place at the cellular level Cellular response is: the first manifestation of harmful effects Genetic test-systems can be applied for an early and reliable displaying of the alterations in ecosystems What is the expected effect on environment ? Effect on cellular level Cytotoxic Genotoxic Organ or tissue disorder Gene disruption or mutation Whole organism dysfunction Phenotype disorder Environment risk assessment procedure radionuclides distinction radionuclides bioavailability radionuclides inventory radionuclides transfer to biota radionuclides migration external dose internal dose effects: one cell on individuals mortality morbidity on population disadvantage/ advantage on ecosystem reduced reproductive success Conclusion Advantages: The assumption: No observed effect at cellular level = no effect on biota at all Is easy to defended and no one is able to challenge this, Tests of genotoxicity and cytotoxicity when applied widely are justified enough from economic point of view Disadvantages: The presence of other pollutants can blur the results of applied tests Thank you for your attention This article was prepared in frame of „PORANO” project supported by a grant from Norway through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism