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Assessment of naturally occurring radionuclides around England and Wales: Application of the G-BASE dataset to estimate doses to non-human species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2009

J. Barescut ,
D. G. Jones ,
J. D. Appleton ,
N. Breward ,
A. C. Mackenzie ,
C. Scheib ,
N. A. Beresford ,
C. L. Barnett ,
M. D. Wood  and
D. Copplestone
D. G. Jones
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey (BGS), Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
J. D. Appleton
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey (BGS), Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
N. Breward
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey (BGS), Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
A. C. Mackenzie
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey (BGS), Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
C. Scheib
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey (BGS), Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
N. A. Beresford
Affiliation:
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, CEH-Lancaster, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK
C. L. Barnett
Affiliation:
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, CEH-Lancaster, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK
M. D. Wood
Affiliation:
Radioecology Unit, SWIMMER, University of Liverpool, The Nicholson Building, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK
D. Copplestone
Affiliation:
Environment Agency, PO Box 12, Richard Fairclough House, Knutsford Road, Warrington WA4 1HG, UK
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Abstract

An assessment of the natural radiation dose to wildlife in England and Wales was made to determine the contribution it may make to the total radiation dose estimated during environmental impact assessments. Significant use was made of systematic datasets for environmental media (stream sediments, stream waters and soils), in particular those produced by the Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) project. This provided extensive, although variable, coverage for different elements and sample types after normalisation of data to account for changes in sampling and analysis over time. Almost complete coverage for K in stream sediments was achieved by merging G-BASE and Wolfson Atlas data. This required normalisation of the Wolfson data to the G-BASE results. Coverage was improved greatly for U and Th in sediments, and K, U and Th in soils, by using the strong relationship between soils and sediments and geology (both solid and superficial) to extrapolate the data. The total U, Th and K data were used to derive activity concentrations of 238U and 232Th series radionuclides and 40K. External dose rates to wildlife were then estimated from derived media concentrations; internal dose rates were estimated from measured activities in biota or activities predicted using recommended concentration ratios.

Type
Research Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 44 , Issue 5: ECORAD 2008 - Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity , 2009 , pp. 629 - 634
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2009

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References

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