Iaea Tecdoc 1000

IAEA-TECDOC-1000
Clearance of
materials resulting from
the use of radionuclides in
medicine, industry and research
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY

The IAEA does not normally maintain stocks of reports in this series.
However, microfiche copies of these reports can be obtained from
IN IS Clearinghouse
International Atomic Energy Agency
Wagramerstrasse 5
P.O. Box 100
A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Orders should be accompanied by prepayment of Austrian Schillings 100,-

in the form of a cheque or in the form of IAEA microfiche service coupons
which may be ordered separately from the INIS Clearinghouse.
The originating Section of this publication in the IAEA was:
Waste Safety Section
International Atomic Energy Agency
Wagramerstrasse 5
P.O. Box 100
A-1400 Vienna, Austria
CLEARANCE OF MATERIALS RESULTING FROM

THE USE OF RADIONUCLIDES IN MEDICINE, INDUSTRY AND RESEARCH
IAEA, VIENNA, 1998
IAEA-TECDOC-1000
ISSN 1011-4289
©IAEA, 1998
Printed by the IAEA in Austria
February 1998
FOREWORD
It has long been recognized that the use of sources of radiation should be regulated.
The recommended regulatory approach is based on a system of notification and authorization
exemplified by the IAEA International Basic Safety Standards for Protection Against Ionizing
Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources (BSS). However, some types of radiation
source do not need to be subject to regulatory control because they can only give rise to
trivial radiation hazards. Such sources may be exempted or cleared from the requirements
of regulatory control. Exemption applies to radiation sources which do not enter the regulatory
control regime, while clearance is relevant to radiation sources which were within the
regulatory regime but can be released because they present an insignificant risk to health. It
is the latter situation which is the subject of this publication. Guidance is provided on
applying the internationally agreed principles for the exemption and clearance of radiation
sources and practices from regulatory control to derive clearance levels relevant to materials
resulting from the use of radionuclides in medicine, industry and research.
While the emphasis of the report is on providing guidance on the clearance process
and on methods for determining clearance levels, taking account of site specific factors as
appropriate, a set of conservatively derived generic clearance levels is also presented. These
are expected to be of considerable help to users of small quantities of radionuclides in
laboratories and hospitals and their regulators. They can be used, taking due account of the
associated notes of caution, as reference levels for determining when clearance is the
appropriate option for disposing of the materials.
The report was developed through a series of consultants, Advisory Group and
Technical Committee meetings. Although a draft document was prepared in April 1992,
further development of the document was postponed until the publication of a related report
entitled "Clearance Levels for Radionuclides in Solid Materials: Application of Exemption
Principles". With the publication of the latter as IAEA-TECDOC-855 in January 1996, this
report was further developed and revised to take into account, amongst other things, the
publication of the BSS and the outcome of the Specialists Meeting on the Application of the
Concept of Exclusion, Exemption and Clearance: Implication for the Management of
Radioactive Materials (May 1997).
The IAEA wishes to acknowledge the work of the experts who took part in the
development of the report, in particular, the contribution made by L. Baekelandt of Belgium
and J. Simmonds of the United Kingdom. A list of contributors to drafting and review can
be found at the end of this report. R. Rastogi and G. Linsley of the Division of Radiation
and Waste Safety were the responsible officers at the IAEA.
EDITORIAL NOTE
In preparing this publication for press, staff of the IAEA have made up the pages from the original
manuscript(s). The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the IAEA, the governments
of the nominating Member States or the nominating organizations.
Throughout the text names of Member States are retained as they were when the text was compiled.
The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the
publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and
institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries.
The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered)
does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an
endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...................... 1
1.2. Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...................... 2
1.3.Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...................... 2
1.4. Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...................... 2
2. NATURE OF THE RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND DISPOSAL PRACTICES . . . . 3

2.1. Waste types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. Waste disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. EXEMPTION AND CLEARANCE PRINCIPLES AND THEIR APPLICATION ... 6

3.1.The system of regulatory control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2. Release from regulatory control — The clearance concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3. The need for derived quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4. Regulatory considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.5. Granting of clearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.6. Verification of clearance levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4. RADIATION DOSE ASSESSMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4.1. Radiological characteristics of the waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2. Assessment of radiation exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2.1. Airborne releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2.2. Liquid releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.2.3. Solid waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5. DERIVATION OF CLEARANCE LEVELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

5.1. Generic clearance levels for release to atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.2. Generic clearance levels for aquatic releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5.3. Generic clearance levels for solid waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.4. Applicability of the generic clearance values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.5. Collective doses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.6. Consideration of mixtures of radionuclides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
APPENDIX A: AVERAGING PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
APPENDIX B: ESTIMATION OF GENERIC CLEARANCE VALUES FOR

AIRBORNE AND LIQUID DISCHARGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
APPENDIX C: ESTIMATION OF COLLECTIVE DOSES CORRESPONDING TO

CLEARANCE VALUES FOR AIRBORNE AND LIQUID
DISCHARGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7
CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND
Many uses of radioactive materials are beneficial to mankind, for example in industry and
research, in cancer treatment and in medical diagnosis. However, radioactive materials are also
potentially harmful to health and their use must therefore be regulated. The accepted
regulatory approach is based on a system of notification and authorization, as described in the
International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the
Safety of Radiation Sources (BSS) [1].
Some types of exposure to ionizing radiation are not subject to regulatory control
because they are not amenable to such control (e.g. cosmic rays) and are therefore excluded
from the regulatory process; some radiation sources present a very low risk to health and for
these it is normally considered that control by regulatory process would be a waste of
resources.
For sources which present such low risks, two situations can be distinguished:
(1) the sources do not enter the regulatory control regime, i.e. control is never imposed;
(2) the sources are released from regulatory control, i.e. control is no longer exercised.
The first situation is referred to as 'exemption' and the sources are said to be exempted
from regulatory control. Exempted sources typically include sources of low activity such as
tracers used in research, calibration sources and some consumer products containing small
sources or low levels of activity per unit mass. The corresponding levels of activity or activity
concentration are called exemption levels.
The second situation, where sources of radiation are removed from the regulatory
control regime, is referred to as 'clearance'. The corresponding levels of activity or activity
concentration are called clearance levels. The cleared sources include wastes and materials that
are a candidate for recycling and reuse. Cleared materials should not become subject of
regulatory control again and, therefore, clearance levels will never exceed exemption levels.
It must be kept in mind that, when the predicted exposure from released materials is
not certain to be trivial, their disposal must be authorized. Under such authorized disposal,
appropriate regulatory requirements are maintained, for as long as necessary, to ensure
safety.
The general principles and criteria for exemption and clearance have been detailed in
the BSS. They are based on the principles for exemption that were agreed upon in 1988 [2]
and on the 1990 Recommendations of the ICRP, which recognize "that the exemption of
sources is an important component of the regulatory functions" [3] and iterate the basic
criteria, namely that the source gives rise to small individual and collective doses in both
normal and accidental conditions and that no reasonable control procedures can achieve
significant reductions in individual and collective doses.
The clearance levels presented in this report are based on the same radiological
principles and criteria [2] as those that were used to derive clearance levels for solid material
[4] and for the recycling and reuse of materials [5].
1.2. OBJECTIVE
The objective of this report is to provide guidance on translating the principles of

exemption from regulatory control into practice in the context of the waste arising from
medical, research and industrial uses of radionuclides. It gives guidance on regulatory
considerations in granting clearances and on the nature and scope of radiation dose
calculations which must be performed in deriving clearance levels.
A further objective is to develop generic clearance levels for application to these types
of waste. These are values, expressed in terms of release rates of radionuclides to the
environment or activity concentrations in solid materials, below which there is no need
for further regulatory control.
1.3. SCOPE
This report deals with the clearance from regulatory control of airborne, liquid, and
solid wastes containing very low levels of unsealed radioactive materials originating from
hospitals, research institutes and industrial installations that are not linked to the nuclear fuel
cycle. Spent sealed sources and wastes arising from activities/practices where naturally
occurring radionuclides are present (either in natural or enhanced concentrations) are not
considered in this report.
1.4. STRUCTURE
Following the Introduction, the nature of the wastes from medical, research and
industrial applications of radionuclides and the potential disposal routes are reviewed in
Section 2. In Section 3 the relevant radiation protection principles and their applications are
presented and regulatory issues related to the granting of clearances and their verification are
discussed. In Section 4 the exposure scenarios which must be analyzed and the dose
assessment modelling are reviewed and discussed. Section 5 deals with the derivation of
generic clearance levels for airborne and aquatic releases and solid wastes.
The report is supplemented by appendices describing: averaging procedures for waste

packages; the estimation of generic clearance values for airborne and liquid discharges and
solid waste disposal; and the estimation of collective doses associated with clearance levels
for airborne and liquid discharges.
2. NATURE OF THE RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND DISPOSAL PRACTICES
2.1. WASTE TYPES
The use of unsealed radioactive materials in hospitals for diagnosis and treatment as
well as for research in the medical field results in the generation of various kinds of
radioactive waste. These include items which have been contaminated with radioactive
materials, such as paper, plastic gloves and covers, counting tubes, glassware, washing liquids
and excreta from patients who have had radioisotopes administered for treatment or diagnosis.
A wide variety of radioisotopes are used in industrial applications and for research in
the fields of agriculture, biology, physics, chemistry, etc. The wastes generated from such
applications range from more easily handled materials such as contaminated aqueous liquids
and combustible materials, to less easily handled contaminated materials such as organic
liquids (e.g. scintillation fluids), large animal carcasses and large contaminated equipment.
Many of the radionuclides used in hospitals and research establishments have relatively
short half-lives. Where appropriate, they should be disposed of following storage to allow
for decay to harmless levels. Therefore, they are generally separated from longer lived
radionuclides.
Much of the solid radioactive waste arising in hospitals, research establishments and
industry consists of contaminated paper and plastics. These wastes may be disposed of by
incineration or by direct disposal in landfills. At some establishments a proportion of solid
waste consists of animal carcasses. These may be treated as combustible waste, or macerated
and disposed with liquid waste, or collected for burial.
Liquid waste is generally segregated into aqueous and organic liquids. Organic
scintillation liquids constitute a significant proportion of the organic liquids.
Airborne waste from hospitals and research establishments is generally less significant
than solid or liquid waste. The potential for inhalation may, however, be significant and needs
to be considered.
Table I gives an overview of some important radionuclides present in the waste arising
from medical, research and industrial uses of radionuclides.
2.2. WASTE DISPOSAL
Routes commonly used for the disposal of waste from hospitals, industry and research
institutes are as follows:
(a) airborne effluents:

discharge into the atmosphere either directly or through filtration systems;
(b) aqueous effluents:

discharge directly to sewer systems, or to septic tanks, or collection ponds, or to
various water bodies such as rivers, lakes and the marine environment;
TABLE I. OVERVIEW OF SOME IMPORTANT RADIONUCLIDES USED IN MEDICINE,
INDUSTRY AND RESEARCH
Radio- Physical half- Principal Waste Mode of

nuclide life application characteristics disposal
H-3 12.3 a clinical measurements, solid, liquid burial
research, organic solvents dispersal
labelling, HTO, HT incineration
lummating devices
C-14 5.73 x 101 a research, solid, liquid burial
labelling, solvent dispersal
clinical measurements exhaled CO, incineration
Na-22 2.6 a clinical measurements, liquid dispersal
research
Na-24 150 h clinical measurements liquid dispersal
delay and decay
P-32 143 d clinical therapy, solid, liquid burial

research, dispersal
labelling delay and decay
S-35 87.4 d research solid, liquid burial

dispersal
delay and decay
Cl-36 3.01 x 105 a research solid, liquid dilute and disperse as per
regulatory authorization
K-42 12.4 h biological research mainly solid delay and decay
Ca-45 163 d research mainly solid burial

some liquid dispersal
delay and decay
Ca-47 453 d clinical measurements mainly solid burial

some liquid dispersal
delay and decay
Cr-51 277 d clinical measurements, mainly liquid dispeisal

research
Fe-59 445 d clinical measurements, mainly liquid dispersal

research delay and decay
Co-57 271 d clinical measurements, solid, liquid burial

research dispersal
delay and decay
Co-58 708 d clinical measurements, solid, liquid burial

research dispersal
delay and decay
Ga-67 326 h clinical measurements. liquid dispersal

delay and decay
Se-75 120 d clinical measurements, mainly liquid dispersal

research delay and decay
TABLE I (cont)
Radio- Physical half- Principal Waste Mode ot

nuclide life application characteristics disposal
Sr-89 505 d clinical therapy mainly liquid burial

dispersal
delay and decay
Y-90 267 d clinical therapy mainly liquid burial
dispersal
Mo-99 275 d extraction of Tc-99m mainly liquid delay and decay
Tc-99m 602 h clinical measurements, solid, liquid delay and decay

research
In-Ill 283 d clinical measurements, solid, liquid burial
research dispersal
1-123 132h clinical measurements solid, liquid delay and decay
1-125 60 1 d clinical measurements, solid, liquid burial

research, occasionally vapour dispersal
labelling delay and decay
adsorption on C
I-I3I 804 d clinical measurements solid, liquid burial

research occasionally vapour dispersal
clinical therapy delay and decay
adsorption on C
Xe-127 364 d clinical measurements gas, liquid adsorption on C

atmospheric dispersion
Xe-133 524d clinical measurements gas, liquid adsorption on C

atmospheric dispersion
Pm-147 262 a lummating devices solid, liquid burial, dispersal

incineration
Er-169 94d biological research mainly solid delay and decay
Au-198 269 d clinical therapy liquid delay and decay
Hg-197 267 d clinical measurements liquid, solid delay and decay
Hg-203 466 d biological research solid, liquid burial, dispersal

delay and decay
Tl-201 304d clinical measurements mainly liquid burial

delay and decay
dispersal
Th-232 1 40 x 10'" a incandescent gas mantles solid, liquid burial dispersal
a years, d days, h hours

(c) organic liquids (including scintillation fluids):
incineration resulting in atmospheric releases, usually without off-gas cleaning;
scintillation liquids are usually incinerated in their plastic vials, although sometimes,
if the vials are made of glass, the liquids are decanted before being incinerated;
(d) solid waste:

solid waste such as paper, plastic and wood and glass vials, is usually disposed of with
normal refuse in landfills; the combustible waste may be incinerated with normal refuse
resulting in gaseous and particulate effluents and the ash which is disposed of in
landfills.
The disposal of patient excreta containing radionuclides sometimes needs special

consideration, for example when ml is used in the treatment of cancer and thyroid disorders.
For the large activities typically applied during therapy (up to 10 GBq), patients, in general,
should occupy specially equipped rooms which should have separated sanitary facilities for
collecting the excreta in tanks until the radionuclides have decayed to an appropriate level,
after which it may be released for dispersion in the sewer system. Alternatively, on the basis
of radiological assessment, excreta may be discharged directly to the sewer if a specific
authorization is given. The collection and decay storage of waste may involve manual
operations which could result in the exposure of hospital staff to radiological and other
hazards.
A significant proportion of the radioactive waste typically produced in hospitals and

research institutes is of very low specific activity and may therefore be considered as
candidate for clearance from regulatory control. All of the disposal routes listed above can be
used for the disposal of the cleared waste. For short lived radioactive waste in liquid or in
solid forms, storage to allow for decay below clearance levels is a common practice. Solid
radioactive waste that is neither cleared for disposal with normal refuse nor incinerated is
usually buried at an authorized radioactive waste repository or other special disposal facility.
3. EXEMPTION AND CLEARANCE PRINCIPLES AND THEIR APPLICATION
3.1. THE SYSTEM OF REGULATORY CONTROL
Sources and practices involving the exposure of people to ionizing radiation are
normally controlled by a system of notification and authorization as exemplified in the
BSS [ 1 ]. In general, prior to the use of radioactive materials, the operator is required to notify
the Regulatory Authority of his intentions and to apply for an authorization in the form of a
registration or a licence. Such authorizations normally include conditions related to the
disposal of radioactive waste and recycle and reuse of radioactive material to ensure that doses
to the members of the public are kept as low as reasonably achievable and below the
appropriate dose limits and constraints. These authorizations usually stipulate disposal routes
for various waste forms and limits in terms of activity concentration and/or total activity as
conditions that the operator must comply with.
In the case of authorization for the controlled recycle of radioactive material or

disposal of solid waste, conditions may be attached to the authorization in terms of quantities
and/or further use or destination (e.g. controlled landfill, incinerator, recycling route, etc.).
Control is carried out when the material is transferred from the originating facility, either at
the originating facility or at the final destination.
In the case of discharge of liquid and gaseous effluents, the authorization may include
discharge limits (i.e. total activity, concentration) and provisions to control the discharges (e.g.
release rate). Control is carried out at the point of discharge and surveillance is performed
in the environment. The implementation of the BSS in the context of discharges of
radionuclides to the environment is described in Ref. [6].
3.2. RELEASE FROM REGULATORY CONTROL — THE CLEARANCE CONCEPT
Sources and practices may be removed from the system of regulatory control provided
the radiological impact of these practices/sources after removal from the system is sufficiently
low as not to warrant any further control. Such removal of sources and practices from
regulatory control is called 'clearance'.
The basic criteria for determining, whether sources and practices within regulatory
control system should no longer be subject to regulatory control are identical to the
exemption criteria set out in the BSS; they are as follows:
(a) the radiation risks to individuals caused by the practice or source be sufficiently low
as to be of no regulatory concern;
(b) the collective radiological impact of the practice or source be sufficiently low as not
to warrant regulatory control under the prevailing circumstances; and
(c) the practices and sources be inherently safe, with no appreciable likelihood of scenarios
that could lead to a failure to meet the criteria in (a) and (b).
A practice or a source within a practice may be exempted (or cleared) without further
consideration provided that the following criteria are met in all feasible situations:
(i) the effective dose expected to be incurred by any member of the public due to the
practice or source is of the order of 10 uSv or less in a year, and
(ii) either the collective effective dose committed by one year of the performance of the
practice is no more than about 1 man-Sv or an assessment for the optimization of
protection shows that exemption is the optimum option.
It must be kept in mind that, when the predicted exposure from released materials is
not certain to be trivial, their disposal, discharge, or use must be authorized. Under such
authorized actions appropriate regulatory requirements are maintained, for as long as
necessary, to ensure safety.
In considering the pathways by which humans may be exposed to radiation, it will

always be possible to envisage some circumstances in which exposure may occur but is not
certain to occur. Such exposures are termed 'potential exposures'. They may be foreseen and
their probability of occurrence estimated, but they can never be accurately predicted. Potential
exposures should be considered as a part of the assessment process. However, dose1 limits
do not apply directly to potential exposures; ideally they should be replaced by a risk
Unless otherwise stated, the term 'dose' refers to the sum of the effective dose from external exposure in
a given period and the committed effective dose from radionuclides taken into the body in the same period
7
equivalent which takes account of both the probability of incurring a dose and the detriment
associated with that dose if it were to be received. It has been suggested in ICRP 60 [3] that
a simpler approach can be taken provided that the doses are less than the dose limits even if
the event occurs. In such a case it is adequate to use the product of the expected dose and
its probability of occurrence as if this were a dose that is certain to occur. This approach can
be applied in cases of scenarios, which have low probability of occurrence but result in annual
individual doses above 10 jaSv but below the relevant dose limit. The difficulty with this
approach is in estimating the probability of occurrence of the scenarios.
A more pragmatic approach is to select only those scenarios which have a reasonable
likelihood of occurring and to assign a probability of unity to them. With this approach dose
limits can be applied as in the case of normal scenarios. This approach will usually be
conservative but relies on good judgment in the selection of scenarios for analysis.
3.3. THE NEED FOR DERIVED QUANTITIES
The guiding radiological criteria for clearance are expressed in terms of dose and for
practical application it is necessary to convert them into quantities derived in terms of mass
activity concentration (Bq g"1), surface contamination (Bq cm"2), total activity per unit time
(Bq a"1) or total mass per unit time (t a"'). The derivation of these quantities requires a
thorough examination of the reasonably possible routes by which humans may be exposed to
radiation from the proposed cleared materials. The radiation doses associated with each route
of exposure and for each radionuclide considered must be evaluated. On the basis of these
evaluations it is possible to calculate a quantity, either in Bq g"', Bq cm"2, Bq a ', t a ', or some
combination of them, which will satisfy the clearance criteria.
3.4. REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS
It is important to define the terms of the clearance so that both regulatory authorities
and applicants have a common understanding of the scope of the cleared practices. This is also
needed in order to carry out an optimization analysis. A 'practice'2 was defined in IAEA
Safety Series No. 89 [2] in general terms that would be applicable to all types of exemptions
from regulatory control. In the context of waste disposal from hospitals, industry and research
institutes, it is not possible to further specify a definition of 'practice' that would be
appropriate for all possible situations. However, the definition of a practice in the context of
clearance can be illustrated by examples which represent common situations. In the case of
airborne or liquid waste, the practice can often be defined as the discharge of low level
radioactive effluents into the atmosphere or the aquatic environment from a given site. If more
than one installation is discharging effluents into the same environment (from the same general
geographic area), the combination of the discharges from these installations should also be
taken into account. In general, as the geographical area under consideration increases, the
collective dose will also increase due to the combined impact of several facilities in the same
area. In a similar example for solid waste, a practice would be the disposal of cleared waste
from a facility or facilities.
In the context of this report, the process of disposal begins when the operator
relinquishes control of the waste. In most situations, this will be when the waste leaves the
premises of the operator, unless, for some reason, the operator retains control of the waste
Normally, the scope of this practice is smaller than the scope of the practices referred to in the context
of the principle of justification.
after that time. For example, disposal of solid waste could begin when a dustbin or waste
container passes into the control of other persons, or the operator's employee delivers it to a
disposal facility. For liquid waste, disposal could be considered to begin when the waste is
poured down the sink or drain on the operator's premises. For airborne waste, disposal could
be considered to begin at the fumehood.
A radiological impact assessment needs to be performed before granting clearance.

Such radiological impact assessment should justify and support clearance. The assessment
should cover all the likely pathways of exposure situations that could arise from a practice
being considered for clearance. In some circumstances the assessment may simply be a review
to determine that the conditions of a reference evaluation, such as presented in this report,
remain valid and that therefore the generic clearance levels can be applied. In general, the
assessment should provide estimates of doses to workers and to members of the public who
may be exposed after the point of disposal. Both normal and accidental exposure
circumstances should be covered. The competent authorities should exercise judgment in
considering exposure situations with a low probability of occurrence, such as the possible
misuse of waste from the cleared practice which could have consequences serious enough to
preclude clearance.
If the clearance levels are exceeded, it may be that clearance is still appropriate on the
basis of a more detailed optimization analysis or, where justified, for reasons other than those
concerned with radiation protection. On the other hand, even if both criteria are met, there
may be other non-radiological reasons for not granting a clearance, for example if an
appropriate quality assurance system is not in place.
3.5. GRANTING OF CLEARANCE
The clearance may be granted for specific activities or for all activities undertaken by
a particular organisation. The clearance may also be granted for specific materials (e.g.
concrete, steel, plastic). More generally, it may be possible to release material on condition
that it is in a form which ensures, a priori, that the dose criteria for clearance will not be
exceeded taking into account all feasible subsequent uses of the material. Such removal from
regulatory control is called conditional clearance. It must be noted that, if subsequent
verification or monitoring actions would be required to confirm compliance with the clearance
criteria, for example verification of the final destination, the material may not be released
through conditional clearance; it must be dealt with through authorized disposal.
The formulation of a clearance should not allow for circumvention of controls which
would otherwise be applicable, by such means as dilution or fractionation of the waste.
Although dilution in the environment is recognized as an important factor in reducing doses
to members of the public, it is not appropriate to take relatively high specific activity materials
and deliberately dilute them in order to meet the clearance criteria. One way to avoid
problems of this type is to limit the total activity for all kinds of waste that are disposable
under a clearance, rather than to rely solely on a concentration limit.
Competent authorities should periodically review the clearances to confirm that the
radiological considerations and analysis continue to be valid, i.e. that the relevant parameters
determining the conditions of a clearance have not changed significantly. This review should
also determine whether the basic radiological criteria for clearance continue to be observed.
A means should also be established to verify that the operator continues to comply with the
conditions of the clearance, normally by an appropriate national programme of inspection and
the requirement to maintain records.
Competent authorities should ensure that clearances do not relieve the operator's
responsibility for complying with other pertinent legal requirements covering the disposal of
waste with other non-radiological but hazardous characteristics.
3.6. VERIFICATION OF CLEARANCE LEVELS
It is necessary to verify that the cleared material conforms to the applicable clearance
levels. In general, all the activities required to verify compliance with the established levels
for clearance should be performed within the framework of a suitable quality control system
set up in accordance with pertinent recognized quality assurance requirements. Such a system
should take into account the potential amount of cleared material, its final destination and the
complexity of the practice. The system should cover, as appropriate, the keeping of an
inventory of radioactive material, the keeping of records on quantities of cleared materials,
related activity concentrations, arrangements for training and maintaining checks on disposal
procedures.
Verification of clearance levels can be done by direct measurement on the material

to be cleared, by laboratory measurements on representative samples, by use of properly
derived relationships or by other means which are accepted by the competent national
authority.
In industrial and other routine practices, in which there are economic and practical
considerations, the choice of measurement strategy and appropriate measuring instruments
are important factors. Depending on the radionuclides present, it may be necessary to
supplement direct measurements on the material with laboratory analysis of suitably selected
samples.
When deciding on a measurement strategy, the following steps should be considered:
- to group the material to be cleared so that it is as homogeneous as possible in relation

to both material and origin (and thus radionuclide spectrum);
- to assess the radionuclide spectrum for the material to be cleared by analyses of

samples, taking into account all pertinent information about the operational history of
the material.
On the basis of this information, the measurement method can be selected and suitable
instruments can be chosen and appropriately calibrated.
Averaging procedures should be an integral part of the clearance system and need to
be selected according to the type of material leaving the site. Since the destination of the
released material is unknown, it is possible that break-up of the released material would result
in pieces which have a significantly higher activity concentration than the derived levels. The
probability of this occurrence can be reduced by averaging over small quantities. Guidance
on how such averaging can be carried out is provided in Appendix A.
10
4. RADIATION DOSE ASSESSMENT
The aim of this section is to indicate the nature and scope of radiological assessments
which might be required to support or justify the clearance of waste from regulatory control.
Ideally, assessing the radiological impact of disposal would involve the use of
environmental monitoring information as well as mathematical modelling. However, such
monitoring information is not normally available because, inter alia, the quantities and
concentrations of radionuclides in the environment are likely to be too low to be measured.
A wide range of methods and models exist for the assessment of the effect of releases
of radionuclides to the environment. The models vary considerably in their complexity.
Simple models are easy to apply and to explain to third parties but may not include all
features which may be important. It is possible to make conservative assumptions rather than
consider all processes in detail and to design the model such that the resultant radiation doses
are more likely to be overestimated than underestimated.
For producing generic clearance levels for application in a wide range of

circumstances, simple, robust assumptions will be required. A sophisticated model containing
many detailed assumptions may not be helpful because the detailed assumptions may not be
generally applicable. However, it should be recognized that a good understanding of relevant
factors associated with the proposed disposal is required in order to demonstrate that the
simple model is indeed robust (i.e., stands up to close examination).
It is important to begin by having a clear idea of the nature of the proposed disposal,
to be sure exactly what is to be cleared and where regulatory control would cease. If the
criteria for clearance are not met and the planned disposal has to be subject to regulatory
control then more detailed models for radiological assessment may be required along with
effluent and environmental monitoring [7]. Further justification that the resulting higher dose
is as low as reasonably achievable must be made to the regulatory authority. Such models are
outside the scope of this report.
4.1. RADIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WASTE
The first step in carrying out a radiological impact assessment is to characterize the
radioactive waste involved in the proposed disposal. Information is required on the quantities,
characteristics and types of radionuclides in the waste to be disposed of, the mode of disposal
and the disposal locations.
Radiological and environmental characteristics vary over a large range, so it is

necessary to determine clearance levels for each nuclide. Some basic radiological data (half
life, dose coefficients for ingestion and inhalation, external irradiation dose coefficients for
point and infinite plane source) are given in Table II for some relevant radionuclides. Dose
coefficients for intake depend on the chemical form and may vary considerably. It is
generally difficult to predict the chemical form of the nuclides after processing and especially
when they are in the environment. It is recommended in such situations to adopt, for
assessment purposes, the chemical form that gives the highest dose coefficient; this was done
for the values presented in Table II. Two radionuclides of interest are tritium and C-14. Both
are used extensively, often in relatively mobile forms and both are relatively long lived. In
the particular case of tritium, it is of interest to distinguish between tritium gas and tritiated
water because pathways, behaviour and radiological properties are very different in the two
TABLE II BASIC RADIOLOGICAL DATA FOR RADIONUCLIDES OF INTEREST
Dose per unit intake (a)

Radionuclides Physical Sv Bq 1
half-life
Inhalation Ingestion
H-3 123 a 26 x 10"' S 1 8 x 10"

C-14 573 x 103 a 58 x 10" S 58 x 10"'
Na-22 260 a 1 3 x 10"F 3 2 x 10 "
Na-24 150h 27 x 10 '"F 41 x 1 0 ' "
P-32 143d 34 x 10" M 24 x 10 "
S-35 874 d 1 9 x 10" S I 3 x 10'"
Cl-36 301 x 105 a 73 x 10" M 93 x 10 '"
K-42 124 h 1 2 x 10 '" F 43 x 10"'
Ca-45 163 d 37 x 10 9 S 7 1 x 10"'
Ca-47 453 d 2 1 x 10" S 1 6 x 10'
Cr-51 277 d 37 x 10" S 3 8 x 10"
Fe-59 445 d 40 x 10 " S 1 8 x 10'
Co-57 271 d 1 Ox 10" S 2 1 x 10'"
Co-58 70 8 d 2 1 x 10" S 74 x 1 0 ' "
Ga-67 326d 24 x 10'" M 1 9 x 10"'
Se-75 120 d 1 3 x 10 'J S 26 x \0'
Sr-85 648 d 8 1 x 10"' S 56 x 10"'
Sr-89 50 5 d 79 x 10" S 26 x 10"
Y-90 267d 1 5 x I09 S 27 x 10'
Mo-99 275 d 99 x 10"' S 60 x 10"'
Tc-99 2 13 x 105 a 1 3 x 10* S 64 x 10'"
Tc-99m 602 h 20x 10" S 22 x 10"
In-Ill 283 d 23 x 10 "'M 29 x 10"'
I- 123 132 h 74x 10" F 2 1 x 10"'
I- 125 60 1 d 5 1 x 109 F 1 5 x 10s
1-131 804 d 74 x 10 9 F 22 x 10*
Xe-127 524 d (b) (b)
Xe-133 364 d (b) (b)
Pm-147 2 62 a 50x 10 9 M 26 xlO'"
Er-169 930d 1 0 x 10 " M 37 x 10"'
Au- 198 269d 86 x 10 "'S 1 0 x 10"
Hg-197 (inorganic) 267 d 30 x 10"' M 23 x 10"'
Hg-203 (organic) 46 6 d 56 x 1 0 ' ° F 1 9 x 10'
Tl-201 304d 44 x 10" F 95 x 10"
Ra-226 1 60 x 101 a 95 x 1 0 ' S 28 x I0 7
Th-232 1 40 x 10'" a 1 1 x 104F 23 x I07
a years, d days, h hours
(a) Dose here means committed effective dose equivalent Committed effective dose per unit intake via
mhalation/mgestion to members of the public (age > 17a) are for the chemical form giving the highest
dose
(b) Uptake of noble gases into the body is very limited and so doses per unit intake are not evaluated The
major hazard is from external radiation
Note: F, M and S denote fast, moderate and slow absorption from the lung, respectively
12
cases. The transformation of tritium gas to tritiated water is slow in the environment. This
requires consideration of both forms for airborne release. The dose coefficients for inhalation
and ingestion and for the external irradiation given in Table II have been taken from the IAEA
Basic Safety Standards [1] and Refs [8, 9] respectively. The geometrical conditions for which
these dose coefficients apply have to be taken into account.
4.2. ASSESSMENT OF RADIATION EXPOSURE
An outline of the major ways in which people can be exposed to radiation is given
below for each of the waste types identified in Section 2. While it is not possible to include
all possible exposure pathways and events which can lead to exposure, the associated
uncertainty can be lessened with knowledge of the relevant local and regional conditions and
of the environment relating to the disposal practice. The exposure pathways and scenarios of
importance for the waste disposal options considered here have been well studied over many
years. In some cases it has been possible to carry out validation studies in which predictions
are compared with environmental measurements. This experience gives confidence in the
results for the cases that are considered here.
Whatever the waste disposal option and type of waste, it is necessary to determine the
ways in which radioactivity might transfer through the environment to people. Account needs
to be taken of the possible accumulation of radionuclides in environmental media, as well as
possible dilution and dispersion. Potential exposures, such as those due to accidents, also need
to be taken into account with the probability of occurrence as well as the consequences being
considered. The main concern is the assessment of doses to members of the critical group
[6] but collective doses may also be required. Different models for assessing the radiation
doses may be required depending on the different circumstances.
The IAEA has published information on methods and data to assess the radiological
impact of planned releases of radionuclides to atmosphere and to water bodies [7]. This
methodology is intended to be a relatively simple assessment tool that enables rapid evaluation
of planned discharges to see whether a given practice is in compliance with relevant dose
limiting criteria. It is considered sufficiently robust for use in an initial assessment of
clearance levels for discharges.
4.2.1. Airborne releases
There is usually little or no delay between the production and the release of airborne
radionuclides which leads to a continuous mixing in the atmosphere. This is in contrast to
other waste types which are usually collected and then released after appropriate control. For
this reason materials which generate airborne releases are usually controlled by limiting the
quantities being handled to ensure that the amount released meets the appropriate criteria.
Airborne releases to. atmosphere are assumed to be through stacks or vents. The possible
radiation exposures due to the disposal of filters may need to be considered. Exposures from
the disposal of filters are of the same nature as those from any other solid waste (see Section
4.2.3).
Radionuclides released to atmosphere will be dispersed depending on the local

meteorological conditions. They will give rise to exposure due to inhalation of, and external
irradiation from, the passing plume. During dispersal radionuclides may be deposited on to
the ground, depending on their physical form. The main exposure pathways of concern then
are external irradiation from the deposited material; internal irradiation following the transfer
13
of radionuclides through the terrestrial foodchains; inhalation of radionuclides transferred back
into the atmosphere by the action of the wind or mechanical disturbance (resuspension). The
build up of deposits in the environment needs to be considered for longer lived nuclides.
If discharges are continuous or frequent, then average meteorological conditions are

relevant for estimating doses. If discharges were to be infrequent, then it may be appropriate
to consider the implications of a large fraction of the release occurring during the least
favourable dispersion conditions. Consideration should also be given to the possibility of any
discharge being strongly affected by a building, or being drawn into air intakes of a building,
or being affected by any other circumstances that might limit dispersion.
The IAEA Safety Series No. 57 (currently under revision) [7] provides models for four
different dispersion situations: release from high stacks; dispersion from short stacks under the
influence of a building; dispersion where the source and receptor are on the same building
surface; and dispersion where the receptor is very close to, but not on the building, and is
under the influence of building wake effects. Models are also included for the transfer of
radionuclides through terrestrial foodchains. Resuspension has been found to be a relatively
minor exposure pathway following routine releases of radionuclides to atmosphere and so is
not considered in Ref. [7]. It is important only where there are no further atmospheric releases
and for those radionuclides, such as the actinides, where doses due to external radiation and
foodchain transfer are relatively unimportant. If required, models for wind-driven
resuspension and that due to man-made disturbances given in Ref. [10] may be referred to.
The models from Ref. [7] have been used to derive generic clearance levels for airborne
discharges as outlined in Section 5.
4.2.2. Liquid releases
This section deals with releases of aqueous liquid waste. Non-aqueous liquid waste,
such as organic waste and contaminated liquid scintillant are normally disposed of by
incineration which would give rise to exposures as described in Sections 4.2.1 and 4.2.3.
A frequently used route for the disposal of very low level liquid waste is via the
ordinary sewer system. In this case the exposure of sewage system workers needs to be
evaluated. Also treatment of sewage may result in a contaminated sludge and a contaminated
liquid, which is discharged to a water body. The sludge might be incinerated giving rise to
contaminated airborne effluent and solid residue. Alternatively, the sludge might be treated
and used as fertilizer, giving rise to exposures similar to those following deposition of
radionuclides after atmospheric release. Yet another possibility is that the sludge is disposed
of as solid waste.
The liquid effluent, or the sewage stream itself , may be discharged directly into a
surface water body: a river, a lake, an estuary or the marine environment. Generally this
results in considerable dilution which can be taken into account in assessing clearance levels.
However, it is important to be sure that no circumstances could arise where this dilution does
not occur.
Following release of liquid effluent to a river, the effluent is carried downstream and
consideration has to be given to all the potential uses of the river water which might give rise
to radiation exposure. The pathways of interest include: ingestion of drinking water; ingestion
of fish taken from the river; and ingestion of foods derived from land irrigated with river
14
water. In addition, some radionuclides may become attached to sediments and fall to the river
bed. These sediments might then act as a source of external irradiation or give rise to intake
via inhalation. Sediments are also applied to agricultural land in some cases and so may give
rise to the transfer of radionuclides through the terrestrial foodchain. The possible build-up
of long-lived radionuclides in sediment and subsequent exposure pathways, therefore, also has
to be considered. For very short lived radionuclides, the assessment should concentrate on the
drinking water pathway.
Similar considerations also apply to releases to other water bodies. Another possibility
for liquid waste disposal is discharge to a seepage pit. In this case radionuclides would be
retained in the pit, or be carried away with the leachate. On closure of such a pit, radioactive
material would be buried. Both the buried material and the leachate can be assessed in a
similar fashion to solid waste disposal as discussed in Section 4.2.3.
Models for assessing the release of radionuclides to water bodies and to sewers, together
with the subsequent exposure pathways are given in Ref. [7]. These models have been used
to derive the generic clearance levels for liquid discharges as outlined in Section 5.
4.2.3. Solid waste
Combustible solids, as well as organic liquids and animal carcasses, may be incinerated
giving rise to airborne discharges (see Section 4.2.1). Non-combustible solids, including ash
from incinerators, might be disposed of to some form of municipal landfill. These facilities
can vary considerably, both in their design and in the degree to which operations are
controlled. At one extreme, such disposal might consist of little more than loose tipping on
to a ground surface with final cover only being applied after some delay. At the other
extreme, operations may be carefully controlled, with prompt covering of disposed material,
preventing any human contact with the waste except by those workers directly concerned with
the disposal operation. For such workers, exposure due to direct irradiation from the waste
and as a result of the inhalation of resuspended radionuclides will be the main exposure
pathways. In the first case, however, consideration should be given to the possibility of
scavenging as an exposure scenario.
Once in the ground, radionuclides could find their way back to people by a number of
mechanisms. Leaching by infiltrating groundwater is likely to be one of the most important
mechanisms. Contaminated leachate may find its way to a surface water body (see Section
4.2.2), but there may be considerable delay in the ground before this occurs. Solubility of the
radionuclides and the potential for sorption in the ground are important factors; both are
element specific and vary from site to site according to the nature of the ground materials. The
ground water flow system is also important. Again, this is site specific, and a full analysis
must take account of factors such as rainfall and infiltration, level of the water table relative
to the buried material, and the engineered features of the facility designed to minimize
leaching and/or to control leachate movement.
For some radionuclides, generation of gas in the landfill may be a relevant process, e.g.
tritium and I4 C may be incorporated into methane generated in the landfill. However, it may
be of more significance in dryer climates than in humid climates.
Some radionuclides are not very mobile and will tend to stay in the landfill. Radiation
exposure might occur only if the landfill is re-excavated after closure. In some cases former
landfill sites are controlled for a certain period after closure, to stop any kind of post-disposal
15
intrusion, while in other cases little or no control is exercised and intrusion could occur soon
after the site is closed. The probability that such intrusion will occur depends on many
factors, some of which are site and country specific. This is only relevant for longer lived
nuclides.
Solid waste in the form of sewage sludge might also be spread on agricultural land as
a fertilizer. The possible transfer of radionuclides through foodchains is a route which should
then be considered.
Some contaminated solids may also be suitable for recycling or reuse. While recycling
of the materials considered in this report is not likely, reuse of instruments and equipment may
occur. Clearance of these materials is addressed in Ref. [4] which also applies to large
quantities of material. It must be noted, however, that the IAEA Regulations for the Safe
Transport of Radioactive Material [11] define limits in terms of surface contamination.
Objects with surface contamination above these levels should be transported in accordance
with the requirements of Ref. [11].
5. DERIVATION OF CLEARANCE LEVELS
In this section a set of generic clearance levels is derived. For solid materials, the
clearance levels are given in terms of activity concentration and are based on the BSS
exemption levels [1]. However clearance levels for airborne and liquid releases need a
separate derivation since the relevant discharge scenarios were not included when deriving the
BSS values [12]. The methods used in this report to derive such levels have been taken from
Ref. [7].
The generic values for releases to atmosphere, freshwater and as solid waste are
presented in Tables III, IV and V respectively and are discussed in the following sections.
The applicability and need for generic values is also discussed. The values in these Tables
are to be considered as order of magnitude, reflecting a level of uncertainty associated with
this type of generic assessment. In deriving clearance levels for atmospheric and liquid
discharges, annual averages have been used for some parameters. Therefore, they are not
appropriate for short term releases.
The values in Tables III, IV and V were derived with the intention of assuring that if
complied with, annual doses to individual members of the public arising from any single
cleared practice will not exceed 10 pSv. A conservative approach has, therefore, been adopted
throughout in the assumptions and in the choice of scenarios and model data. However, as
with all such assessments the results must be treated with caution. In particular, the possibility
that the waste is not diluted as assumed after release or that exposure pathways other than
those assumed are of significance should be considered. This is discussed further in
Section 5.4.
5.1. GENERIC CLEARANCE LEVELS FOR RELEASE TO ATMOSPHERE
The set of generic clearance levels for releases to atmosphere presented in Table III
was derived as outlined in Appendix B. It was necessary to make a number of assumptions
in deriving these values and these assumptions were intended to give a cautious estimate of
the clearance levels. In particular, it was assumed that the release occurs from a vent in the
16
TABLE III. DERIVED GENERIC CLEARANCE LEVELS FOR AIRBORNE RELEASES
Radionuclide Annual release rate Main exposure pathways and

(Bq a 1 ) limiting age group
H-3 1 x 10" Ingestion
C-14 1 x 10"' Ingestion

Na-22 1 x 10" External from deposit
(Adults and Infants)
Na-24 1 x 109 External from deposit
P-32 1 x 108 Ingestion
(Infants)
S-35 1 x 108 Ingestion
(Infants)
CI-36 1 x 107 Ingestion
(Infants)
K-42 1 x 10'° External from deposit
Ca-45 1 x 108 Ingestion
(Infants)
Ca-47 1 x 10" External from deposit and
Ingestion (Adults and
Infants)
Cr-51 1 x 10" External from deposit
(Infants)
Fe-59 1 x 108 External from deposit
Co-57 1 x 109 Ingestion
(Infants)
Co-58 1 x 109 Ingestion (Infants)
Ga-67 1 x 10'° External from deposit
Se-75 1 x 108 External from deposit
Sr-85 1 x 108 External from deposit
(Adults and Infants
Sr-89 1 x 108 Ingestion (infants)
17
Table III. (cont.)
Radionuclide Annual release rate Main exposure pathways and

(Bq a'1) limiting age group
Y-90 1 x 10'° Inhalation and Ingestion
(Infants)
Mo-99 1 x 10" External from deposit
Tc-99 1 x 107 Ingestion (Infants)
Tc-99m 1 x 10" External from deposit
In-111 1 x 109 External from deposit
1-123 1 x 10'° External from deposit
1-125 1 x 108 Ingestion (Infants)
1-131 1 x 108 Ingestion (Infants)
Xe-127 1 x 10" External from cloud
Xe-133 1 x 1012 External from cloud
Pm-147 1 x 10'° Inhalation
Er-169 1 x 10'" Inhalation and Ingestion
(Infants)
Au-198 1 x 109 External from deposit
Hg-197 1 x 10'° External from deposit
Hg-203 1 x 10s External from deposit and
Ingestion (Infants)
Tl-201 1 x 10'° External from deposit
Ra-226 1 x 106 Inhalation and Ingestion
Th-232 1 x 10s Inhalation (Adults)
Notes:
(a) The calculations on which these values are based assume releases from a building vent or window. The
closest individual is located 20 m from the release point and gets his food, 100 and 800 m from the
release point. Doses are evaluated via inhalation, ingestion and external exposure routes.
(b) Significant differences in these values are possible for different source to receptor distances (see
Appendix B).
18
TABLE IV. DERIVED GENERIC CLEARANCE LEVELS FOR LIQUID RELEASES
Radionuclide Annual release rate Main exposure pathways

(Bq a'1)
H-3 1 x 1012 River - Ingestion
C-14 1 x 10'° River - Ingestion
Na-22 1 x 105 Sewage - External
8
Na-24 1 x 10 Sewage - External
P-32 1 x 106 River - Ingestion fish
S-35 1 x 10" River - Ingestion fish
Cl-36 1 x 10'° River - Ingestion fish and
water
K-42 1 x 109 Sewage - External
Ca-45 1 x 10'° River - Ingestion fish and
water
Ca-47 1 x 108 Sewage - External
Cr-51 1 x 108 Sewage - External
Fe-59 1 x 106 Sewage - External
Co-57 1 x 109 Sewage - External
Co-58 1 x 108 Sewage - External
Ga-67 1 x 108 Sewage - External
Se-75 1 x 106 Sewage - External
Sr-85 1 x 106 Sewage - External
Sr-89 1 x 109 River - Ingestion fish and
water
Y-90 1 x 1010 River - Ingestion fish and
water
Mo-99 1 x 108 Sewage - External
Tc-99 1 x 10'° River - Ingestion fish and
water
Tc-99m 1 x 109 Sewage - External
In-111 1 x 108 Sewage - External
1-123 1 x 109 Sewage - External
Xe-127 Not applicable
Xe-133 Not applicable
19
TABLE IV. (cont.)
Radionuclide Annual release rate Main exposure pathways

(Bq a 1 )
Pm-147 1 x 10'" Sewage - External and River
- Ingestion fish and water
Er-169 1 x 10'" River - Ingestion fish and
water
Au-198 1 x 108 Sewage - External
Hg-197 1 x 109 Sewage - External
Hg-203 1 x 107 Sewage - External
Tl-201 1 x 108 Sewage - External
Ra-226 1 x 106 Sewage - External
Th-232 1 x 106 Sewage - External
Note: The values are the most restrictive of those calculated following discharge to a river or discharge to a
sewer (see Appendix B).
side of a building and that someone lives only 20 m from this point. This is intended to
account for the relatively extreme conditions that could occur, for example, for hospitals in
cities. However, considerably reduced doses would be obtained if the distance between the
source and the receptor were greater, particularly if the release occurred from a stack. This
is illustrated in Appendix B. In contrast, significantly higher doses would be obtained for the
unlikely situation where the intake of air into a building was on the same building face as the
vent. This possibility should be considered and, if applicable, revised clearance levels should
be estimated.
The generic clearance values take account of the ingestion of crops produced 100 m
from the release point and animal products produced 800 m from the release point; it was
assumed that the food intake rates were typical of critical groups. The models and data used
were developed for application in temperate European and North American conditions. The
clearance values may therefore need to be reviewed for countries with significantly different
types of diet, agriculture and style of living. Table III indicates which exposure pathways are
most important in determining the clearance levels for releases to atmosphere.
5.2. GENERIC CLEARANCE LEVELS FOR AQUATIC RELEASES
The generic clearance values for liquid releases to sewers or freshwater bodies are
given in Table IV and their derivation is outlined in Appendix B. For discharge to sewers
two extreme possible scenarios were considered: assuming that no radioactive material is
retained in sewage sludge but it is all discharged to the water body in liquid form; and
assuming that all of the radioactive material discharged is retained in the sewage sludge at
the sewage treatment works. Radiation doses were calculated for both cases and the most
restrictive level used to give the generic values in Table IV. If the waste is discharged
directly to a river and the sewage scenario is the most restrictive, then the doses will be
overestimated. The release is assumed to occur into a relatively small river with a low flow
20
rate and a receptor location 1 km downstream of the release point. Changes in these
assumptions, particularly changing the river size and flow rate can have a significant effect
on the resultant doses. Releases to an estuary or to the marine environment will result in
lower doses. However, releases to a lake may result in higher doses and need to be
considered separately.
For radionuclides in sewage sludge, two exposure pathways were considered: external
irradiation and inhalation of resuspended material. For releases to a river, the pathways
considered were: ingestion of drinking water; ingestion of fish; and external irradiation from
contaminated sediments. The transfer of radionuclides to the terrestrial foodchains due to
irrigation or treatment with sewage sludge has not been considered in these calculations. In
particular circumstances, these pathways may be important and should be considered.
Table IV indicates which exposure pathways are most important in determining the clearance
levels for aquatic releases.
TABLE V. GENERIC CLEARANCE LEVELS FOR SOLID WASTE (Bq/g)
Radio- Clearance level for Radio- Clearance level for

nuclide moderate quantities (a) nuclide moderate quantities (a)
H-3 1 x 106 Sr-89 1 x 103

C-14 1 x 10" Y-90 1 x 103
Na-22 1 x 10' Mo-99 1 x 102
Na-24 1 x 10' Tc-99 1 x 104
P-32 1 x 103 Tc-99m 1 x 102
S-35 1 x 105 In-111 1 x 102
Cl-36 1 x 104 1-123 1 x 102
K-42 1 x 102 1-125 1 x 103
Ca-45 1 x 104 1-131 1 x 102
Ca-47 1 x 10' Pm-147 1 x 104
Cr-51 1 x 103 Er-169 1 x 104
Fe-59 1 x 10' Au-198 1 x 102
Co-57 1 x 102 Hg-197 1 x 102
Co-58 1 x 10' Hg-203 1 x 102
Ga-67 1 x 102 Tl-201 1 x 102
Se-75 1 x 102 Ra-226 1 x 10'
Sr-85 1 x 102 Th-232 1 x 10"
(a) Moderate quantity means less than 3 tonnes per year and per facility. For larger quantities
the clearance level is one tenth of the levels in Table V (see Section 5.3).
Note: The clearance levels for moderate quantities are identical to the BSS [1] exemption levels.
21
5.3. GENERIC CLEARANCE LEVELS FOR SOLID WASTE
Schedule I of the the Basic Safety Standards [1] contains exemption levels for a wide
range of radionuclides. Sources whose activity or activity concentration is below the specified
exemption level may be automatically exempted without further consideration from the
requirements of the Standards. These exemption levels were derived using a conservative
model for a series of limiting use and disposal scenarios [12]. The values represent the order
of magnitude of the lowest values calculated in any scenario. They apply to practices
involving small scale usage of activity, where only moderate quantities are involved (of the
order of a tonne or less). In cases where quantities of the order of one tonne are involved,
the exemption values of the BSS may be used as clearance levels. However, if larger
quantities of material are involved, these levels might no longer be appropriate and would
need some modifying factor to take account of the quantity involved.
In 1996, the IAEA published an interim report on clearance levels for radionuclides
in solid materials [4]. Its aim was to provide a set of nuclide specific clearance levels which
can apply to solid materials irrespective of the use to which they are put or of their destination
after radiological control has been relinquished. These values are generally applicable to large
amounts of material. The values were derived independently of the BSS exemption levels [1]
but it has been observed that there is a fairly good agreement between these clearance levels
and one tenth of the BSS exemption levels. In fact for the majority of radionuclides, they are
within the same order of magnitude [13].
In the interests of promoting consistency and uniformity in recommended international

values for exemption and clearance3, the generic clearance levels for solid wastes
recommended in this report are numerically equal to the exemption values in Schedule I of
the BSS. However, they should be adjusted using the modifying factor of 1/10 when the
amounts for clearance become large (Table V).
It is to be noted that the amount referred to in Table V is the quantity of material per
year of practice, i.e. the amount of waste generated per year in a single facility. The term "of
the order of 1 tonne" refers to the range between 0.3 and 3 tonnes, 1 tonne being the
geometrical mean of the upper bound and the lower bound of that range. In the context of
this report, the term "moderate quantity" is equivalent to "of the order of 1 tonne or less" and
is therefore interpreted as "any quantity below 3 tonnes".
5.4. APPLICABILITY OF THE GENERIC CLEARANCE VALUES
Ideally, clearance levels should be derived using assumptions and model parameters
that are appropriate to the particular practice and situation of interest. This would increase
the degree of confidence associated with the use of such levels compared to those derived
based on generic assumptions. Without appropriate site specific information the uncertainty
associated with the dose estimate is likely to be higher and conservative assumptions have to
be made to compensate for this uncertainty.
The generic clearance values presented here have been derived using conservative
assumptions. They may be useful for an initial assessment of whether a proposed disposal
could be cleared from regulatory control. However, they do not preclude the use of other
"The BSS exemptional levels have also been adopted in the 1996 edition of the IAEA Regulations for
the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material [11].
22
clearance values derived using more appropriate local or regional information. For a particular
source, it may be appropriate to use site specific information and more realistic assumptions.
However, if clearance levels are intended for general application to a large number of similar
facilities within a particular country or region, then a site specific approach is not applicable
and a generic, cautious approach of the type outlined here may be appropriate.
The scenarios, models and data used in the derivation of the generic values are all
derived from experience in Europe and North America. The cautious nature of the assessment
procedure will be expected to compensate for some differences between countries, for example
in foodchain transfer and eating habits. However, there may be circumstances or exposure
pathways that are outside the range of possibilities covered in this analysis. For example, it
has been assumed that waste actually reaches the disposal facility. If it did not, then a range
of possibilities exist for early exposure. However, this has been taken care of to some extent
in the derivation of the clearance levels for solid waste. A judgement should be made by the
competent authority as to whether the methodology outlined in this report is suited to local
conditions. If it is felt that a potentially important scenario or exposure pathway has been
omitted then a specific analysis should be undertaken.
5.5. COLLECTIVE DOSES
An important principle for exemption and clearance is that the radiation protection be
optimized, which involves consideration of the collective dose associated with a practice. If
it can be shown that the collective dose commitment is less than about 1 man-Sv per year of
practice, then no further action is required but otherwise a more thorough optimization
exercise may be needed.
The evaluation of collective dose requires information on the disposal practice as well
as site specific data on the population at risk, exposure routes etc.. However, it is possible
to explore, in a general way, the likely order of magnitudes of collective doses which could
result from disposals of radioactive waste. The IAEA has published generic estimates of
collective dose for unit discharge of a number of radionuclides to atmosphere and to water
bodies [7]. These are order of magnitude estimates intended for screening purposes. They
could be used to determine if the collective doses corresponding to the clearance levels for
airborne or liquid discharges meet the 1 man-Sv criterion. Appendix C gives the collective
doses per unit discharge for a range of radionuclides taken from Ref. [7] together with the
estimated collective doses corresponding to the generic clearance levels. From Appendix C
it is seen that in all cases the collective doses are below the 1 man-Sv value and so do not
need to be considered further.
Similarly, for solid waste it has been discussed in Ref. [4] that collective doses are
unlikely to exceed the 1 man-Sv criterion. Similar arguments should apply in the case of
clearance levels based on the exemption levels of Ref. [1] for small material quantities. It is,
therefore, likely that collective dose will not be a significant factor for the practices considered
in this report and considering individual doses alone will usually be adequate for determining
clearance levels.
5.6. CONSIDERATION OF MIXTURES OF RADIONUCLIDES
To determine if a mixture of radionuclides meets the criteria for clearance, a simple

ratio expression can be used. This expression is:
23
where: C, = the proposed release rate, Bq a"1 or concentration Bq g~' of radionuclide i in the
waste; CLi = the limiting clearance release rate, Bq a"' or concentration Bq g"1 of radionuclide
in the waste; and n = the number of radionuclides in the mixture.
In the above expression, the ratio of the proposed release rate or concentration of each
radionuclide to its clearance release rate or concentration is summed over all radionuclides in
the mixture. If this sum is less than or equal to one, the proposed release rate or concentration
for the mixture can be regarded as meeting the criteria. This type of relationship may be used
by national authorities with their specific guidance on clearance release rates or concentrations
to account for situations where multiple radionuclides are present in waste mixtures.
24
Appendix A
AVERAGING PROCEDURE
For solid waste, clearance levels have been derived in terms of activity concentrations.
These values are meant to be averages over a moderate quantity of material. It is also assumed
that the radionuclides are more or less uniformly distributed throughout the material.
It is prudent to establish a method by which the significance of the estimated average

activity and the distribution of the radionuclides can be judged.
A simple method for assessing the average activity involves dividing the volume
occupied by the material in a package (e.g. a 200 L drum, a 1 m1 box) into defined portions
and then assessing the activity concentration of each of these portions and comparing it with
the appropriate clearance level.
The minimum number of portions is suggested to be ten and the maximum volume of
each portion is suggested to be 20 L, whichever is more limiting in terms of portion volume.
The activity of each volume should then be assessed, either through measurements,
calculations or combinations thereof.
It is suggested that the activity concentration in each portion does not exceed ten times
the clearance level, while the activity concentration, averaged over the package, does not
exceed the appropriate clearance level.
§JEXT PAQE(S)
left BLANK
25
Appendix B
ESTIMATION OF GENERIC CLEARANCE VALUES FOR

AIRBORNE AND LIQUID DISCHARGES
This appendix outlines the calculations carried out to obtain the generic clearance
values for discharge given in Tables HI and IV of the main text. The basic assumptions are
given and detailed calculations described for a single radionuclide as an example. In addition,
the effect of changing some of the assumptions is demonstrated with some additional
calculations. The models and data used in the calculations are all taken from Ref. [7].
B.I. AIRBORNE DISCHARGES
B.I.I. Calculation of dispersion and ground deposition
For airborne discharges it is assumed that the radionuclides of interest are released to
atmosphere from a vent in the side of a building. The diameter of the vent pipe is 0.5 m and
the cross-sectional area of the building is 500 m2. An individual is assumed to live close to
the vent in a separate building, 20 m high. The distance from the source to the receptor is
about 20 m. The situation here is dispersion in the lee of a building inside a cavity zone
where the height of release is less than 2.5 times the building height and the distance to the
receptor point is less than 2.5 times the square root of the surface area of the appropriate wall
of the building of concern. The following equation is used to calculate the concentration of
radionuclides in air [14]:
CA = (PQ^Kn^HvK) (B.I)
where: CA is the concentration of radionuclides in air in Bq m "1

Pp is the fraction of the time per year that the wind blows towards the receptor of
interest in sector p
Q, is the annual average release rate for radionuclide i (Bq s"1)
ua is the annual geometric mean wind speed at the height of the release (m s"')
HB is the building height (m)
K is a constant (value 1 m).
Equation B.I represents a box model with a vertical dimension equal to the building
height and a lateral dimension equal to 1 m. This model is an empirical formulation that
yields cautious predictions of concentrations in air when compared with about 40 sets of field
data from tracer experiments around nuclear reactor structures [7].
In the case considered, Equation B.I applies for all source to receptor distances up to
56 m (2.5 x V500). From Ref. [7] the default values of ua of 2 m/s and for Pp of 0.25 are
believed appropriate and sufficiently conservative for screening calculations. For a release of
1 Bq/s over a year the predicted concentration in air is, therefore:
CA = (0.25 * I)/ (3.14 x 2 x 20 x 1)

= 2 x Iff3 Bq m3
From Ref. [7] the ground deposition rate is given by:
C, = <V*+VW)CA (B.2)
27
where: Cgr is the total daily average deposition rate on the ground of a given radionuclide
from both dry and wet deposition processes (Bq m"2 d"')
Vd is the dry deposition coefficient for a given radionuclide (m d"')
Vw is the wet deposition coefficient for a given radionuclide (m d"1).
In Ref. [7] it is suggested that a total deposition coefficient (Vd + Vw) of 1000 m d"1
be used for screening purposes for depositing aerosols and radioactive gases [15]. For tritium,
carbon-14 and non-reactive gases such as krypton, it should be assumed that the total
deposition coefficient is 0 [7]. In the case being considered for clearance, the ground
deposition at the location of the individual is 1000 x 2 x 10"3, which is 2 Bq m"2 d" 1 .
The air concentration and ground deposition given above is appropriate for the location
of the individual but they could not obtain all of their food from such a location. It is,
therefore, assumed that they obtain all vegetables and other crops 100 m from the source,
while meat and milk are obtained 800 m from the source. These locations are such that
dispersion in the lee of a building inside the wake zone is appropriate. Here, the concentration
of the radionuclide in air at the location of interest is given by:
CA = (PpxBxQ,)/ua (B.3)
where: CA , Pp , ua and Q, are as defined above and B is a parameter related to the

downwind distance of interest, the surface area of the appropriate wall of the building of
interest and the vertical diffusion parameter [7]. A Table of values of B for various
downwind distances and cross sectional areas appropriate for neutral atmospheric stratification
is also given in Ref. [7]. From this Table for a surface area of 401 to 800 m2 and distances
of 100 m and 800 m, the values of B are 1 x 10"3 and 6 x io~ 5 m"2, respectively. The air
concentrations at 100 m is, therefore, estimated to be:
CA = (0.25 x 1 x lff3)/2 = 1.3 x Iff4 Bq m3 for a release of 1 Bq s1
and at 800 m
CA = (0.25 x 6 x Iff5)/2 = 7.5 x Iff6 Bq m3 for a release of 1 Bq s1
The ground depositions at these points are calculated as above and is 1000 x CA i.e.,
1.3 x 10"' Bq m'2 d'1 at 100 m and 7.5 x JO' 3 Bq m'2 d'1 at 800 m.
The relative locations of the discharge point and the receptor point can make a
significant difference in the extent of the atmospheric dispersion and the resulting air
concentrations and ground depositions. For example, if it is assumed that the receptor point
is on the same face of the building as the discharge point and 10 m away (from Ref. [7]), the
predicted air concentration would be 0.15 Bq m"3. This is two orders of magnitude higher
than the case considered here. In contrast, if the receptor point was 400 m from the discharge
point then from Ref. [7] the predicted air concentration would be 2.5 x 10"5 Bq m"3; two orders
of magnitude lower than assumed in the reference clearance level calculations. Similarly, the
distance assumed for food production affects significantly the relevant deposition rates.
B.I.2. Pathways of exposure
For radionuclides in the air the two exposure routes of concern are inhalation and
external irradiation. The annual dose from inhalation Emh (Sv a"') is given by:
28
(B.4)
where: CA is the annual average concentration of the radionuclide in air at the point of
interest (Bq m"3)
R,nh is the inhalation rate (m3 a"1)
DF mh is the dose coefficient for intake by inhalation (Sv Bq"').
The value of CA for this case is 2 x 10"3 Bq m"3 from above. The value of R inh is 1400
m a"' for infants and 8400 m3 a'1 for adults [7]. The value of DF,nh is radionuclide dependent,
3
for example for 131I, DF,nh is 7.2 x l(r8 Sv Bq-1 for infants (1 to 2 years) and 7.4 x 10'9 Sv
Bq'1 for adults [1].
I3I
Therefore for I, the dose from inhalation is 2 x |(r7 Sv a'1 for infants and 1.2 x IO" 7
1
Sv a" for adults.
The dose from external irradiation from radionuclides in the cloud, E,m (Sv a"1) is given
by:
Eim = CA.DFim.Of (B.5)
where: DF,m is the immersion dose conversion factor (Sv a'1 per Bq nV1)
Of is the fraction of the time of exposure per year.
In this case Of is considered to be 1.0, i.e., the individuals concerned spend all of their
time at the location of interest. For 131 I the value of DF,m is 4.7 x JO' 7 Sv a"1 per Bq m"1 for
all ages [7].
131
Therefore, for I, Elm = 9.4 x Iff10 Sv a'
For radionuclides deposited on the ground there are two additional exposure pathways
of concern, external irradiation from the deposited material and ingestion of radionuclides in
food.
The dose from external irradiation from deposited material, Egl (Sv a'1) is given by:
Egr = Cgr.DFgr.Of (B.6)
where: Cgr is the annual average deposition on the ground (Bq m"2 d"1)
DFgr is the dose conversion factor for exposure to contaminated ground (Sv a"1 per
Bq m'2 d'1).
For the location of interest, Of is again taken as 1.0 and Cgr is given above as 2 Bq m"2
d" for all ages. The value of DFgr is radionuclide dependent; for 131 I the value is 1.2 x io~ 7
1
Sv a"1 per Bq m"2 d"1 for all ages. It should be noted that no allowance is made for the
shielding effects of buildings.
Therefore, Egr = 2.4 x Iff7 Sv a1
The dose from ingestion of radionuclides in food Eing.p (Sv a"1) is given by:
29
Eing.p = Cp,.Hp.DFingi (B.7)
where: Cp., is the concentration of radionuclide i in food p at the time of intake (Bq kg"1)
Hp is the consumption rate for food p (kg a"1)
DF, ngl is the dose coefficient for ingestion of radionuclide i (Sv Bq"')
and Cp, = Cgr.CUpii (B.8)
where: Cgr is the annual average deposition on the ground (Bq m"2 d"')
CU p] is the concentration of radionuclide i in food p per unit deposit (Bq kg"1 per
Bq m"2 d"').
From above it is assumed that crops are obtained at 100 m while milk and meat are
obtained at 800 m from the discharge point where the ground dispositions are 1.3 * 10"' and
7.5 x 10"3 Bq m"2 d"1 respectively. The foods consumed can be split into three groups: crops;
milk; meat [7], where crops includes fruit, vegetables and grain. The intake rates for each
food are given in Table B.I for infants (1 to 2 years) and adults. The food concentration per
unit deposition rate is radionuclide dependent. From Ref. [7], the values for n'l are:
6.6 x 10"' Bq kg"1 per Bq m"2 d"1 for crops

2.2 Bq kg'1 per Bq m"2 d"1 for milk
1.6 Bq kg"' per Bq m"2 d"1 for meat.
The dose coefficients for ingestion are also radionuclide dependent and can be
obtained from Ref. [1]. For 131 I, the values are 1.8 x 10"7 Sv Bq"' for infants (1 to 2 years)
and 2.2 x 10"8 Sv Bq"1 for adults.
Therefore, for ml the doses from ingestion of different foods are:
For infants:
For crops E,ng = 6.6 x 10"' x 1.3 x ]0"' x 150 x |.8 x 1Q"7
2.3 x IQ"6 Sv a"'
For milk E, ng = 2.2 x 7.5 x 1Q"3 x 300 x 1.8 x 1Q"7
8.9 x JO' 7 Sv a"'
For meat E, ng = 1.6 x 7.5 x 10"3 x 40 x 1.8 x 1Q"7
8.6 x IQ"8 Sv a"1
Therefore, the total dose from ingestion for infants is 3.2 x 10"6 Sv a"'.
For adults:
For crops E, ng = 6.6 x 10"' x 1.3 x 10"' x 410 x 2.2 x 1Q"8
7.7 x IQ"7 Sv a"'
For milk E, ng = 2.2 x 7.5 x 10"3 x 250 x 2.2 x 1Q"8
9.1 x 10"8 Sv a"'
For meat E, ng = 1.6 x 7.5 x 1Q"3 x 100 x 2.2 x 10"8
2.6 x 10'8 Sv a"'
x
Therefore, the total dose from ingestion for adults is 8.9 1Q"7 Sv a"'.
30
TABLE B.I. REPRESENTATIVE CRITICAL GROUP CONSUMPTION RATES OF DIFFERENT
FOODS
Food Consumption rate

Infants (1 to 2 a) Adults
1
Crops (kg a" ) 150 410
Milk (1 a ') 300 250
Meat (kg a"') 40 100
Water and beverages (m3 a"') 0.26 0.6
Freshwater fish (kg a ') 15 30
The total individual dose, ETOT, is obtained by summing the doses from each pathway. The
results are:
For infants ETOT 3.6 x 10' 6 Sv a' and

for adults 1.2 x 10'6 Sv a ' for a discharge of Bq s~' for a year.
B.I.3. Estimation of generic clearance levels
From the previous section, an infant is estimated to receive a dose of 3.6 x 10 6 Sv a '
for a release of 1 Bq s"' for a year. The generic clearance level for discharge to the
atmosphere is obtained as:
RC a = — x 3.15 x 107
ETOT
where: RCa is the generic clearance level (Bq a"1)

Cc is the criteria for clearance (Sv a"')
EJOT is the total dose from unit discharge rate (Sv a"' per Bq s ')
3.15 x 107 is the conversion from Bq per second to Bq per year discharge.
In this case Cc is 10 uSv a1 (i.e. 10'5 Sv a1 ) and for 131I, ETOT is 3.6 x 10'6 Sv a '.
The generic clearance level for discharge to the atmosphere is therefore 8.75 x 107 Bq a '.
This is rounded to 1 x 10® Bq a'1 in Table III.
Similar calculations can be carried out for other radionuclides and this has been done
using data taken from Refs [7] and [1] supplemented by data from Ref. [16]. The
radionuclide specific parameter values used in the calculation of the generic clearance levels
are given in Tables B.II and B.III. The important exposure pathways for each radionuclide
are indicated on Table III of the main text. Carbon-14 and tritium are treated separately (see
Section B.3). In each case the generic value given in Table III is obtained by rounding to the
nearest order of magnitude.
31
TABLE B.II. EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL DOSE COEFFICIENTS USED IN THE DERIVATION
OF CLEARANCE LEVELS
Radionuclide External dose from External dose from Dose coefficient for
cloud (a), deposit (a), intake by inhalation
Sv per a/Bq m~3 Sv per a/Bq m 2 d ' (b) adults, Sv per Bq
H-3* (c) 1.04E-11 O.OOE+00 4.50E-11

C-14* (c) 7.06E-12 5.08E-13 2.00E-11
Na-22 2.80E-06 7.00E-05 1 .30E-09
Na-24 6.00E-06 7.80E-08 2.70E-10
P-32* 3.12E-09 9.18E-11 3.40E-09
S-35* 7.66E-12 5.30E-13 1 .40E-09
Cl-36* 7.03E-10 2.12E-11 7.30E-09
K-42* 4.60E-07 8.39E-09 1.20E-10
Ca-45* 2.72E-11 1.45E-12 2.70E-09
Ca-47* 1 .69E-06 3.15E-08 1 .90E-09
Cr-51 4.00E-08 3.30E-08 3.70E-11
Fe-59 1.50E-06 1 .70E-06 3.70E-09
Co-57* 1 .77E-07 3.63E-09 1 .OOE-09
Co-58 1 .20E-06 3.00E-08 2.10E-09
Ga-67 1.80E-07 1 .90E-08 2.40E-10
Se-75 5.00E-07 1.80E-06 1.10E-09
Sr-85 6.30E-07 1 .20E-06 8.10E-10
Sr-89 1.80E-10 2.40E-10 7.90E-09
Y-90* 5.99E-09 1.68E-10 1 .50E-09
Mo-99 2.00E-07 2.90E-08 9.90E-10
Tc-99 6.70E-13 1.50E-10 1 .30E-08
Tc-99m 1.60E-07 1.30E-09 2.00E-11
In-111 5.00E-07 4.50E-08 2.30E-10
1-123 2.00E-07 3.70E-09 7.40E-11
1-125 1.40E-08 5.20E-08 5.10E-09
1-131 4.70E-07 1 .20E-07 7.40E-09
Xe-127* 3.94E-07 O.OOE+00 O.OOE+00
Xe-133* 4.92E-08 O.OOE+00 O.OOE+00
Pm-147* 1.7 IE-08 3.56E-10 7.30E-10
Er-169* 5.49E-11 2.55E-12 1 .OOE-09
Au-198 5.00E-07 4.10E-08 8.60E-10
Tl-201 1.10E-07 1 .20E-08 4.40E-11
Hg-197 7.70E-08 7.70E-09 3.00E-10
Hg-203 2.80E-07 4.00E-07 2.40E-09
Ra-226 8.40E-09 3.60E-06 9.50E-06
Th-232 2.30E-10 3.60E-06 1.IOE-04
32
TABLE B.II (cont.)
Radionuclide Dose coefficient for Dose coefficient for Dose coefficient for
intake by inhalation intake by ingestion intake by ingestion
(b) infants, Sv per Bq (b) adults, Sv per Bq (b) infants, Sv per Bq
H-3 (c) 2.70E-10 1.80E-11 4.80E-11

C-14 (c) 6.60E-09 5.80E-10 1 .60E-09
Na-22 7.30E-09 3.20E-09 1.50E-08
Na-24 1.80E-09 4.30E-10 2.30E-09
P-32 1.50E-08 2.40E-09 1 .90E-08
S-35 4.50E-09 7.70E-10 5.40E-09
Cl-36 2.60E-08 9.30E-10 6.30E-09
K-42 l.OOE-09 4.30E-10 3. OOE-09
Ca-45 8.80E-09 7.10E-10 4.90E-09
Ca-47 7.70SE-09 1.60E-09 9.30E-09
Cr-51 2.10E-10 3.80E-11 2.30E-10
Fe-59 1 .30E-09 1.80E-09 1 .30E-08
Co-57 3.70E-09 2.10E-10 1 .60E-09
Co-58 7.50E-09 7.40E-10 4.40E-09
Ga-67 1 .OOE-09 1.90E-10 1 .20E-09
Se-75 4.50E-09 2.60E-09 1 .30E-08
Sr-85 3.70E-09 5.60E-10 3.10E-09
Sr-89 3.00E-08 2.60E-09 1.80E-08
Y-90 8.80E-09 2.70E-09 2.00E-08
Mo-99 4.80E-09 6.00E-10 3.50E-09
Tc-99 3.70E-08 6.40E-10 4.80E-09
Tc-99m l.OOE-10 2.20E-11 1.30E-10
In-111 1.20E-09 2.90E-10 1 .70E-09
1-123 7.90E-10 2.10E-10 1 .90E-09
1-125 2.30E-08 1 .50E-08 5.70E-08
1-131 7.20E-08 2.20E-08 1 .80E-07
Xe-127 O.OOE+00 O.OOE+00 O.OOE+00
Xe-133 O.OOE+00 O.OOE+00 O.OOE+00
Pm-147 3.60E-09 9.90E-10 7.40E-09
Er-169 3.50E-09 3.70E-10 2.80E-09
Au-198 4.40E-09 1 .OOE-09 7.20E-09
Tl-201 3.30E-10 9.50E-11 5.50E-10
Hg-197 1.20E-09 2.30E-10 1 .60E-09
Hg-203 7.90E-09 1 .90E-09 1.10E-08
Ra-226 2.90E-05 2.80E-07 9.60E-07
Th-232 2.20E-04 2.30E-07 4.50E-07
(a) All external doses were taken from Ref. [7] except radionuclides marked * where external
doses from cloud and deposited activity were taken from Ref. [16].
(b) All dose coefficients for inhalation and ingestion were taken from Ref. [ 1 ] and are the most
restrictive value given.
(c) For H-3 and C-14 a specific activity approach is adopted.
33
TABLE B III PARAMETERS USED TO CALCULATE TERRESTRIAL FOOD
CONCENTRATIONS
Concentration factor Concentration factor Transfer to milk Transfer to meat

Radionuclide for root uptake into for root uptake into d per litre d per kg
crops (a) pasture (b)
H-3 (c) 0 OOE+00 0 0 OOE+00 0 OOE+00

C-14 (c) 0 OOE+00 0 0 OOE+00 0 OOE+00
Na-22 5 OOE-02 06 250E-01 8 OOE-01
Na-24 5 OOE-02 06 250E-01 8 OOE-01
P-32 1 OOE+00 10 2 OOE-02 5 OOE-02
S-35 600E-01 6 2 OOE-02 2 OOE-01
Cl-36 (d) 5 OOE+00 80 1 OOE-01 1 OOE-03
K-42 (d) 4 OOE-02 1 1 OOE-02 5 OOE-02
Ca-45 (d) 3 OOE-01 10 3 OOE-03 1 OOE-02
Ca-47 (d) 3 OOE-01 10 3 OOE-03 1 OOE-02
Cr-51 1 OOE-03 0 1 2 OOE-04 9 OOE-02
Fe-59 1 OOE-03 01 3 OOE-04 5 OOE-02
Co-57 8 OOE-02 2 1 OOE-02 7 OOE-02
Co-58 8 OOE-02 2 1 OOE-02 7 OOE-02
Ga-67 3 OOE-03 0 1 1 OOE-05 3 OOE-04
Se-75 1 OOE-01 1 1 OOE-03 OOE-01
Sr-85 3 OOE-01 10 3 OOE-03 OOE-02
Sr-89 3 OOE-01 10 3 OOE-03 OOE-02
Y-90 3 OOE-03 0 1 6 OOE-05 OOE-02
Mo-99 2 OOE-01 1 5 OOE-03 OOE-02
Tc-99 5 OOE+00 80 1 OOE-03 OOE-03
Tc-99m 5 OOE+00 0 1 OOE-03 OOE-03
In-ill 3 OOE-03 0 2 OOE-04 4 OOE-03
1-123 2 OOE-02 0 1 OOE-02 5 OOE-02
1-125 2 OOE-02 0 1 OOE-02 5 OOE-02
1-131 2 OOE-02 0 1 OOE-02 5 OOE-02
Pm-147 2 OOE-03 0 6 OOE-05 2 OOE-03
Er-169 (d) 5 OOE-02 0 3 OOE-04 2 OOE-04
Au-198 1 OOE-01 04 1 OOE-05 5 OOE-03
Tl-201 2 OOE+00 2 3 OOE-03 1 OOE-02
Hg-197 3 OOE-01 3 5 OOE-04
Hg-203 3 OOE-01 3 5 OOE-04 1 OOE-02
Ra-226 4 OOE-02 04 4 OOE-02 1 OOE-02
Th-232 1 OOE-03 01 1 OOE-03 5 OOE-03
1 OOE-04
(a) Bq/kg plant fresh wt per Bq/kg soil dry wt

(b) Bq/kg plant dry weight per Bq/kg soil dry wt
(c) Titium and carbon-14 are modelled separately (see text)
(d) No values are given in Ref [7], therefore
Cl assumed to behave as Tc
Ca assumed to behave as Sr
K assumed to behave as Cs
Er assumed to behave as Ce
Note: All values are taken trom Ret [7] unless indicated.
34
B.2. LIQUID DISCHARGES
B.2.1. Release to a sewer and retained in sewage sludge
As discussed in Section 5, two approaches are adopted for releases of radionuclides

to a sewer: firstly, assuming that all of the material is retained in the sewage sludge at the
sewage treatment works; secondly, assuming that all the activity is discharged to a water
body. The doses due to the former scenario are considered here, while the latter case is dealt
with in the following section.
If it is assumed that all of the radionuclides discharged are transferred to the sewage
sludge, then the concentration in the sludge is given by Ref. [7]:
Csludge = Q,/S (B.10)
where: Cs]udge is the annual average concentration of the radionuclide in the sludge (Bq kg" 1 )
Q, is the annual discharge of the radionuclide i (Bq a"1)
S is the annual sewage sludge production at the relevant sewage treatment works
(kg a 1 ).
The annual sewage production at the relevant treatment plant will vary depending on
the size of the treatment plant, which reflects the size of the population served by the plant.
Reference [1] suggests a default annual sewage production of 400 tonnes a"' (dry weight)
based on the plant serving 20 000 people, each producing 20 kg a"' (dry weight) of sewage.
For unit discharge per year, the concentration in sludge is therefore:
C, ,8 = ——-——5 = 2.5 x 10~6 Bq kg'1 per Bq a'1 released

4 x 10
There are two exposure pathways of concern here [7]: external irradiation from
radionuclides in the sludge and inhalation of radionuclides resuspended into the air from the
sludge. Both are for workers at the sewage treatment plant.
The external irradiation dose is estimated by Ref. [7].
E si = C'sludge.DFgr.Of (B.ll)
where: ES1 is the radiation dose in Sv a"1

C'S|Udge is me concentration of the radionuclide in sewage sludge in Bq m"2
DFgr is the dose conversion factor for ground contamination in Sv per Bq m"2
Of is the fraction of time of exposure per year (a"1).
C'xiudge 's me sur ace

f concentration of the radionuclide in unit area of the sewage
sludge. It can be obtained from the concentration of radionuclides in unit mass of the sludge
calculated from equation B.10, by assuming that the density of sewage sludge is 1.0 x 10^ kg
m"1 and that the depth of sewage sludge container is 1 m. Then C\|Udge = 1000 x C sludgc [7].
The fraction of time of exposure per year can be taken as 0.228 based on a working
time of 2000 h a"1. The value of DFgr is radionuclide dependent and as used in Section B.I .2.
35
For nil , the value of DFgr = 1.2 x 10'7 Sv a"1 per Bq m"2 d"'. But for this calculation it is
required in units of Sv per Bq m2 and therefore this value is divided by 365 to give 3.3 x
10"'° Sv per Bq m2.
131
Therefore, the external dose from I in sewage sludge is:
1000 x 2.5 x JO'6 x 3.3 x 10'10 x 0.228

1.9 x 10"13 Sv a1 for 1 Bq a1 discharge
The dose due to inhalation of resuspended material is given by Ref. [7]:
Ens = CsluAge . Riah . DFinh .Of.DL (B. 12)
where: Eres is annual dose from inhaling resuspended sewage sludge (Sv a" 1 )
Cs,udge is the concentration of the radionuclide in sewage sludge in Bq kg" 1
R,nh is the annual inhalation rate in m3 a'
DF,nh is the dose coefficient for intake by inhalation (Sv Bq" 1 )
Of is the fraction of the year that exposure occurs
DL is the dust loading due to resuspension in kg m"\
The concentration in sewage sludge is in dry weight and as given above is 2.5 x 106
Bq kg"' for a unit annual release. The annual inhalation rate is 8400 m1 a"' [7] and O, can be
taken as 0.228 as above. The ambient dust loading at the sewage works will depend on local
conditions, in particular the extent to which the sewage sludge has dried out and the weather
conditions. A default value of 0.1 mg m"3 is suggested in Ref. [7] based on measurements
made around a sewage plant [17]; this corresponds to 1 x 10"7 kg m"\ The dose coefficient
is radionuclide dependent and for I 3 I I is 7.4 x 10"9 Sv Bq"1 for adults [1].
I31
Therefore, the dose due to inhalation of I in sewage sludge is:
= 2.5 x 10"6 x 8400 x 7.4 x 10"9 x 0.228 x 1.0 x 107

= 3.5 x 10"18 Sv a"' for 1 Bq a"1 discharge which is about 5 orders of magnitude
less than the external dose.
The total dose to a sewage worker, therefore, from discharge of 1 Bq a"1 of nil to a
sewer is obtained by summing these two doses and is 1.9 x 10"n Sv a"'.
B.2.2. Release to river
It is assumed that the radionuclide is released to a small river with a flow of 0.1 m3 s"1
and that people live 500 m downstream from the outfall on the same side of the river.
From Ref. [7], the river flow corresponds to a river of width 3.47 m and depth
0.058 m.
The river flow velocity, U (m s"1) can be obtained by:
(B>1 }
u = —^-
B .D
36
Where: qw is the flow rate in m3 s"1
B is the width of the river in m
D is the depth of the river in m.
Therefore:
U = ——— ——— = 0.5ms-1

3.47 x 0.058
For the distance to the receptor of interest, complete vertical mixing can be assumed
[7] and the next stage is to calculate the partial mixing index A (dimensionless) of the river
by:
L5 D x
2
B (B.14)
where: x is the distance from the release point to the receptor location (m)
D and B are as before.
For x = 500 m:
1.5 x 0.058 x 500

A =
3.472
= 3.6
The partial mixing coefficient, Pr is next obtained from Ref. [7] and for A = 3.6 is 1.6
(dimensionless). The radionuclide concentration at downstream distance ;c, C (Bq m"3) is
then from Ref. [7]:
(B.15)
•{
C(x) = - exp - 1- . Pr
U
where: Q is the annual average release rate of the radionuclide (Bq s ')
qw is the annual average flow rate (m3 s ')
X, is the radionuclide decay constant (s"1)
x is the downstream distance (m)
U is the river flow velocity (m s"1)
Pr is the partial mixing coefficient (dimensionless).
For this case,
„, 1 , 9.98X10'7 x 500, , ,
C(x) x = —— x exp (-——————————) x 1.6
0.1 0.5
= 16 Bq m -3
37
This is the total concentration in the water and is the sum of the dissolved and
suspended sediment sorbed radionuclides. The dissolved (filtered) radionuclide concentration
Cws (Bq m3) is given by Ref. [7]:
(B.16)
C = C . ——-——
1 + kd Ss
where: kd is the distribution coefficient (m3 kg"1)

Ss is the suspended sediment concentration (kg m"1)
C is the total concentration (Bq m"3).
Values of kd can be obtained from Ref. [7] and depend on the radionuclide and the
characteristics of the water body. For iodine a value of kd = 5 x 10~ 3 m 3 kg ' is given for
freshwater in Ref. [7]. The suspended sediment concentration, S^, will depend upon the
characteristics of the particular river. A default value of 5 x 10~2 kg m"3 is used here.
Therefore:
1
Cws = 16 x —————————————
1 + (5xl(T3 x 5xl(T2)
= 16 Bq m3
When surface water is used for drinking, the suspended sediment is removed by water
treatment processes. It can, therefore, be assumed that the dissolved radionuclide
concentration is appropriate for estimating radiation doses from drinking water. However,
removal efficiency varies depending on the radionuclide concerned and the specific water
treatment used.
Radionuclides will also be deposited on shore and beach sediment. From Ref. [7] the
surface contamination of shore/beach sediment is given by:
C X X X ftl
C - *' " • 1 -«""* (B 17)
1 + Ss kd M Te
where: Cs is the surface concentration in shore/beach sediment (Bq m"2)

C is the concentration in water (Bq m"3)
kd is the distribution coefficient (m3 kg"1)
Xi is the radioactive decay constant (d"1)
Te is the effective accumulation time in days.
The factor 60 (kg m"2) takes into account the top layer (5.0 cm) and bulk density of
sediments. The 0.1 is because the kd for bottom and shore/beach sediment is assumed to
be 1/10 of that for suspended sediment. Te allows for build up in sediments and is
conservatively assumed to be 365 days.
38
Therefore, for I the concentration on beach sediment is:
16 X 5xKT 3 X 60 X 0.1 (l_ t f -8.7x10-* x 365) z

—————————————— x ^—————————'- = 1.51x10 Bq m
1 + (5x10-' x 5xKT3) 8.7xlQ-2 x 365
The exposure pathways of concern here are:
- ingestion of radionuclides in drinking water;

- ingestion of freshwater fish; and
- external irradiation from radionuclides in shore/beach sediment.
The dose rate from ingestion of radionuclides in drinking water EDW (Sv a"1) is given by:
= x
EDW C\v,s Hw x DF ingl (B.I8)
where: Cws is the dissolved (filtered) radionuclide concentration (Bq m"3)

Hw is the consumption rate of drinking water (m3 a"1)
DF ingi is the dose coefficient for ingestion of radionuclide i (Sv Bq"').
Cws is obtained from equation (B.I7). From Ref. [7], the consumption rate of drinking water
is 0.6 m3 a"1 for an adult. For 131I the dose conversion factor for ingestion is 2.2 x 10"8 Sv
Bq"1 for adults.
Therefore, EDW = 16 x 0.6 x 2.2 x 10"8

EDW = 2.1 x 10"7 Sv a"1 for unit discharge to a river.
The dose from the ingestion of radionuclides in fish, E i n g ( (Sv a"') is given by:
E ingf = CfJxHfxDF,ng, (B.I 9)
where: Cfi is the concentration of radionuclide i in fish (Bq kg" 1 )

Hf is the consumption rate of fish (kg a"')
DF ingj is the dose coefficient for ingestion of radionuclide i (Sv Bq" 1 )
and C fl = C ws x Bp (B.20)
where: Cws is the dissolved (filtered) radionuclide concentration (Bq m"3)

Bp is the equilibrium ratio of the concentration of radionuclide i in fish to its
dissolved concentration in water (m3 kg"'), known as the bioaccumulation factor.
The dissolved radionuclide concentration is obtained from equation (B.17). Bp is

radionuclide dependent and varies widely depending on the particular circumstances [7]. For
I31
I a value of Bp of 40 Bq kg"1 per Bq I"1 is given in Ref. [7], this is equivalent to 4 x 102
Bq kg"' per Bq m"3.
Therefore, Cfi = 16 x 4 x 10"2

6.4 x 10 ' Bq kg"1
39
The consumption rate of fresh water fish is taken as 30 kg a ' [7] and DF mg , is for n'l
as given above.
Therefore, E mgf = 6.4 x 10'1 x 30 x 2.2 x 10'8

= 4.2 x 10"7Sv a"1 for unit discharge to a river.
The external irradiation dose from radionuclides in sediment, Em, (Sv a"1) is given by:
Em, = CsxDFgrxOf (B.21)
where: Cs is the surface concentration in shore/beach sediment (Bq m" 2 )

DFgr is the dose conversion factor for ground contamination (Sv a"1 per Bq m2)
Of is the fraction of time of exposure per year for the particular exposure pathway.
For nil from above, Cs = 1.5 x 10'2 Bq m'2, and
DF gr = 3.3 x 1 0 - ' ° S v p e r B q m 2 .
From Ref. [7] a default value for Of of 0.18 is given for adults.
Therefore, Em, = 1.5 x 10'2 x 3.3 x lO' 10 x 0.18

8.9 x 10'n Sv a1
The total dose due to unit discharge of nil to a river is obtained by summing the doses
from all three exposure pathways and is 6.3 x 10"7 Sv a"1 per Bq s"' released or 2.0 x 10 l4 Sv
a"' per Bq a"' released.
B.2.3. Estimation of generic clearance levels for aquatic releases
From the previous sections the dose to an adult for a release of I Bq a ' of ml for a
year is found to be 1.9 x 10"n Sv a"1, if it is assumed that all of the activity is retained in
sewage sludge. If it is assumed that all of the activity is discharged to a river, the resulting
dose is 2.0 x 10"14 Sv a"1. The former case is therefore more restrictive for n'l and so is used
to derive the generic clearance levels.
The generic clearance level for liquid discharge is obtained as:
RC,C = -Q-
c*
(B.22)
where: RCe is the generic clearance level (Bq a"')

Cc is the criteria for clearance (Sv a ')
ETOT is the total dose from unit discharge rate (Sv a"' per Bq a ').
In this case Cc is 10"5 Sv a"1 and for 131I, E^^ is 1.9 x 10"n Sv a"'. The generic clearance
level for liquid discharge is therefore 5.3 x 107 Bq a" 1 . This is rounded to 1 x 107 Bq a"1 in
Table IV.
Similar calculations can be carried out for other radionuclides and this has been done
using data taken from Refs [1], [4], [5] and [7]. The radionuclide specific parameter values
40
used in the calculations of the generic clearance values are given in Tables B.II and B.IV.
The important exposure pathways for each radionuclide are indicated on Table IV of the main
text. Tritium is treated separately (see Section B.3). In each case the generic value given in
Table IV is obtained by rounding to the nearest order of magnitude.
B.3. CALCULATION OF GENERIC CLEARANCE VALUES FOR TRITIUM AND

CARBON-14
Due to their behaviour in the environment the specific activity approach was adopted
to calculate generic clearance values for tritium and carbon-14 as recommended in Ref. [7].
Using this approach it is assumed that a steady-state equilibrium has been attained between
the environment and the exposed individual so that the ratio between the radionuclides and
its stable counterpart is fixed.
B.3.1. Tritium
For tritium it is assumed that the nuclide is transferred through the environment and
incorporated into the organism through its association with water molecules. The
concentration of tritium in humans is then derived from its equilibrium concentration in the
water vapour in the atmosphere resulting from airborne releases and in the water of aquatic
environments receiving liquid releases. From Ref. [7] for airborne releases:
DT = CA x DFT (B.23)
where: DT is the annual dose received by the person at the point of interest from ^H
DFT is the dose rate conversion factor (Sv a ' per Bq litre ' of human water content)
CA is the steady state concentration of SH in atmospheric water vapour (Bq 1 ') at
the location of interest.
The location of interest is taken to be the point where the atmospheric concentration
will contribute most significantly to the dose received. In this case it is assumed to be 100
m, the distance where crops are assumed to be grown, to take account of the important intake
by ingestion. For tritium the dose rate factor is 2.6 x 108 Sv a1 per Bq 1"'. The
concentration of tritium at the point of interest is given by:
r _ X (B.24)
\^l
A
A ——— ——————
where: X is the concentration of ^H in air at the location of interest (Bq m ^).

H is the absolute humidity of the atmosphere, assumed as a default to be 6 x 10 ^
1 m"1 of air.
41
TABLE B.IV. PARAMETERS USED FOR RELEASES TO RIVERS
Distribution coefficient, Kd Bioaccumulation factor, fish

Radionuclide 1kg- 1 Bq kg-'/Bq I' 1
C-14 10 1
Na-22 (a) 1000 20
Na-24 (a) 1000 20
P-32 30 50000
S-35 (b) 30 1000
Cl-36 (c) 10 50
K-42 (a) 1000 2000
Ca-45 (d) 100 75
Ca-47 (d) 100 75
Cr-51 100 200
Fe-59 1000 200
Co-57 1000 300
Co-58 1000 300
Ga-67 (b) 100 400
Se-75 30 200
Sr-85 100 75
Sr-89 100 75
Y-90 (b) 4000 30
Mo-99 (b) 30 10
Tc-99 10 50
Tc-99m 10 50
In-111 100 10000
1-123 5 40
1-125 5 40
1-131 5 40
Pm-147 (e) 1000 30
Er-169 (e) 1000 30
Au-198 (b) 200 35
Tl-201 (b) 100 1000
Hg-197 (d) 100 1000
Hg-203 (d) 100 1000
Ra-226 100 50
Th-232 l.OOE+05 100
(a) Assumed to behave as caesium

(b) Kd value taken from Ref. [10] using analogous elements if necessary
(c) Assumed to behave as technetium
(d) Assumed to behave as strontium
(e) Assumed to behave as cerium.
Note: All values taken from Ref. [7] unless indicated.
42
From Section B.I.I, the value of X at 100 m from unit discharge to atmosphere is
1.3 x 104 Bq m\ therefore at 100 m:
1.3 x It)"4
6.0 x lO'3
= 2.2 10'2 Bq T1
and
DA = 2.2 x 10'2 x 2.6 x 10'8
= 5.7 x 10'10 Sv a'1 for a release of 1 Bq s'1
The clearance level is then:
= lO'5 x 3.15 x 107 / 5.7 x lO'10
= 5.5 x 10" Bq a1
For liquid disharges of tritium a similar approach is adopted where CA is replaced by

Cw the steady state concentration of tritium in water at the location of interest. From Section
B.2.2 the value of Cw is 16 Bq m"3 per Bq s"1 release, which is 1.6 10"2 Bq I"'. Therefore, the
dose per unit discharge is:
Dw = 1.6 x 10'2 x 2.6 x 1Q-8 Sv a1 per Bq s"1
= 4.2 x lO'10
and the clearance level is:
= JO'5 x3.15 x 1 0 7 / 4 . 2 x 10-'°
= 7.5 x 10" Bq a'
B.3.2. Cartx>n-14
The specific activity approach is adopted for atmospheric releases only and for liquid
releases the same approach is used as for other radionuclides. It is assumed that the carbon-
14 release is associated with CO2 molecules and is subsequently fixed within plant tissues
during photosynthesis. Also, the resulting organic molecules are assumed to be transported
along with stable carbon through food chains and into the human body. Therefore, the dose
at equilibrium will be directly proportional to the concentration of I4C in air relative to the
concentration of stable carbon at a given location. Therefore, from Ref. [7]:
D = A . fc .DFC (B.25)
where: D is the annual effective dose

A is the specific activity (Bq I4C/ g C) to which food products at the location of
interest will be chronically exposed.
43
DFC is the effective dose rate factor that relates the annual dose rate (Sv a"1) to the
concentration of I4C per g carbon in people (Bq g"').
The dose rate factor recommended in Ref. [1] is 5.6 x 105 Sv a"' per Bq g"1. Values
of A are calculated as follows:
A = X / Cc (B.26)
where: X is concentration of 14C in air at the location of interest

Cc is the concentration of airborne carbon, assumed to be 1.8 x 10 ' g m"\
As for tritium the location of interest is taken as 100 m and for this distance from
Section B.I.I, X = 1.3 x 10'4 Bq nV3.
Therefore:
D= 1.3 x 10' 4 x 5.6 x 10- 5 / 1.8x lO' 1

= 4 x 108 Sv a"1 per Bq s"1 released
and the clearance level is
= 10'5x 3.15 x 107 /4 x 108

= 7.9 x 109 Bq a '
44
Appendix C
ESTIMATION OF COLLECTIVE DOSES CORRESPONDING

TO CLEARANCE VALUES FOR AIRBORNE AND
LIQUID DISCHARGES
The determination of collective dose requires information on the disposal practice

together with site specific data on the population at risk, exposure routes, etc. However,
generic estimates of collective dose have been made by the IAEA [7] for unit discharges of
radionuclides to the atmosphere and to water bodies. These estimates are based on the results
of models applied to locations in western Europe [18] and the results of a simple model
developed by UNSCEAR [19]. These collective doses are order-of-magnitude estimates only
and are for use for screening purposes. However, they are used here to estimate the collective
dose associated with the clearance values for airborne and liquid discharges. The resulting
collective doses can then be compared with the 1 man-Sv criterion.
TABLE C.I. COLLECTIVE DOSES FOR RELEASES OF RADIONUCLIDES TO ATMOSPHERE
Clearance level Collective dose

Radionuclide
(Bq a'1) per unit discharge for clearance levels
man-Sv per Bq a ' man-Sv
H-3 1 x 10" io-'5 4
io-
C-14 1 x 10'° 10-" io- 1
P-32 1 x 108 io-13 10 s
S-35 1 x 108 io-'2 10 4
Cr-51 1 x 109 io-'4 5
io-
Fe-59 1 x 108 io-13 io-5
Co-58 1 x 109 io-13 IO-4
Sr-89 1 x 108 io-'4 io-6
1-131 1 x 108 io-12 io-4
Xe-133 1 x 1012 io-17 io-5
Th-232 1 x 105 io-'° 10""
Note: The values provided here are order-of-magnitude estimates for screening purposes only and should be
used with caution.
45
TABLE C.II. COLLECTIVE DOSES FOR RELEASES OF RADIONUCLIDES TO WATER
BODIES
Radionuclide Clearance level Collective dose

(Bq a 1 )
per unit discharge for clearance levels
man-Sv per Bq a"1 man-Sv
4 2
H-3 1 x 1012 io-' io-
C-14 1 x 10'° 10-" 10-'
P-32 1 x 106 io-12 1Q-6
S-35 1 x 109 io-14 5
io-
Cr-51 1 x 108 io-16 io-8
Fe-59 1 x 106 io-13 io-7
Co-58 1 x 108 io- 13 io-5
Sr-89 1 x 109 io- 16 io-7
1-131 1 x 107 ID' 15 io-8
Th-232 1 x 106 io-'° io-4
Note: The values provided here are order-of-magnitude estimates for screening purposes only and should be
used with caution.
Tables C.I and C.II give the collective doses per unit discharges taken from Ref. [1J
and those corresponding to the clearance level for releases to atmosphere and to water bodies,
respectively. Collective doses per unit discharge are only available for some of the
radionuclides considered in this report. However, similar results are expected for other
radionuclides. In all cases, the collective doses corresponding to the clearance levels are
significantly below the 1 man-Sv criterion. Only for carbon-14 does the collective dose
approaches the criterion due to its long half-life and global circulation. Therefore, for
carbon-14 it may be necessary to consider collective doses if discharges are close to clearance
level.
46
REFERENCES
[1 ] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, International Basic Safety Standards

for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources, Safety
Series No. 115, IAEA,Vienna (1996).
[2] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Principles for the Exemption of
Radiation Sources and Practices from Regulatory Control, Safety Series No. 89, IAEA,
Vienna (1988).
[3] INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION,
Recommendations of the ICRP, Publication 60, Ann. ICRP 21, Pergamon Press, Oxford
(1990).
[4] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Clearance Levels for Radionuclides
in Solid Materials: Application of Exemption Principles, Interim report for comment,
IAEA-TECDOC-855, IAEA, Vienna (1996).
[5] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Application of Exemption Principles
to the Recycle and Reuse of Materials from Nuclear Facilities, Safety Series No. 111-P-
1.1, IAEA, Vienna (1992).
[6] Regulatory Control of Radioactive Discharges into the Environment (report in
preparation).
[7] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Generic Models and Parameters
for Assessing the Environmental Transfer of Radionuclides from Routine Releases;
Exposures of Critical Groups, Safety Series No. 57, IAEA, Vienna (1982) (under
revision).
[8] INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION, Data for
Use in Protection Against External Radiation, Publication No. 51, Annals of the ICRP,
(1987).
[9] CROSS, W.G., et al., Tables of beta-ray dose distributions in an infinite water medium,
Health Physics, Vol. 63, No. 2 (1992).
[10] SIMMONDS, J.R., LARSON, G., MAY ALL. A., Methodology for Assessing the
Radiological Consequences of Routine Releases of Radionuclides to the Environment,
CEC Report EUR-15760 EN, Luxembourg (1996).
[11] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Regulations for the Safe Transport
of Radioactive Material, Requirements No. ST-1, IAEA, Vienna (1996).
[ 12] EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Principles and Methods for Establishing Concentrations
and Quantities (Exemption Values) below which Reporting is not Required in the
European Directive, Radiation Protection Report No. 65 (1993).
[13] BAEKELANDT, L., "Liberation de dechets de tres faible activite. Etat de la question
en Belgique", paper presented at the Joint Meeting of the French and Belgian
Radiological Protection Societies, Lille, 13-14 November 1997.
[14] MILLER, C.W., YILDIRAN, M., Estimating Radionuclide Air Concentrations near
Buildings: A Screening Approach, Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc. 46, 55 (1984).
[ 15] NATIONAL COUNCIL ON RADIATION PROTECTION AND MEASUREMENTS,
Screening Models for Releases of Radionuclides to Atmosphere, Surface Water and
Ground, NCRP Report No. 123 I. NCRP, Bethesda, MD (1996).
[ 16] ECKERMAN, K.F., RYMAN, J.C., External Exposure to Radionuclides in Air, Water
and Soil, Federal Guidance Report No. 12, EPA 402-R-93-081, US EPA, Washington
(1993).
[17] NORTHROP, R., et al., "Health effects of aerosols emitted from an activated sludge
plant in waste water aerosols and disease", Proc. Symp. US Environmental Protection
Agency, Publication No. EPA-600/9-80-028, Cincinnati (1980).
47
[18] LAWSON, G., COOPER, J.R., McCOLL, N.P., Radiological Impact of Routine
Discharges from UK Civil Nuclear Sites, National Radiological Protection Board,
Chilton, UK NRPBR-231, London, HMSO (1990).
[ 19] UNITED NATIONS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTS OF ATOMIC
RADIATION, 1977 Report to the General Assembly with Annexes, UNSCEAR-
Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, New York (1977).
48
CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW
Alvarez, A. Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, Spain

Asikainen, M. Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, Finland
Asselineau, J.M. Laboratoire d'ecologie marine (IPSN/DPT/SEPD), France
Baekelandt, L. NIRAS/ONDRAF, Belgium
Bergman, C. International Atomic Energy Agency
Boyd, M Environmental Protection Agency, United States of America
Canadillas, F. Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales
y Tecnol6gicas (CIEMAT), Spain
Cool, D. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, United States of America
Mohd Amin, F. Malaysian Embassy, Austria
Ferreli, A. ENEA/DISP, Italy
Guetat, P. IGSN/MSN, CEA, France
Hellstrom, G. National Institute of Radiation Protection, Sweden
Hossain, S. International Atomic Energy Agency
Inia, P. Stichting Klinisch Chemisch Laboratorium, Netherlands
Jackson, J.H. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution, United Kingdom
Kato, S Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), Japan
Kupfer, T. National Institute of Radiation Protection, Sweden
Linsley, G. S. International Atomic Energy Agency
Lopez de la Higuera, J. Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, Spain
Martin, J. Pacific Northwest Laboratories, United States of America
Merta, A. Institute of Atomic Energy, Poland
Napier, B Pacific Northwest Laboratories, United States of America
Owen, O.K. British Nuclear Fuels pic, United Kingdom
Palencia Huezo, V. Nuclear Research National Institute, Mexico
Piechowski, J. Ministere de la Sante, DGS, France
Rastogi, R.C. International Atomic Energy Agency
Regimbald, A. Atomic Energy Control Board, Canada
Reinecke, H.J. ISO-Labor, Germany
Schaller, K. European Commission, Belgium
Scheffenegger, R. Bundeskanzleramt, Vienna, Austria
Sethulakshmi, P. Bhabha Atomic Research Center, India
Simmonds, J. National Radiological Protection Board, United Kingdom
Smith, G. Intera-Exploration Consultants Ltd, United Kingdom
Theriault, B. Atomic Energy Control Board, Canada
Thierfeldt, S. Brenk Systemplanung, Germany
Vanbrabant, H. Nuclear Energy Research Center, Belgium
49

Iaea Tecdoc 1000

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Iaea Tecdoc 1000

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Iaea Tecdoc 1000

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What is the purpose of this publication?

What is the purpose of this publication?

What are some of the principles discussed regarding exemption and clearance?

What are some of the principles discussed regarding exemption and clearance?

IAEA-TECDOC-1000

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY

Orders should be accompanied by prepayment of Austrian Schillings 100,-

CLEARANCE OF MATERIALS RESULTING FROM

2. NATURE OF THE RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND DISPOSAL PRACTICES . . . . 3

3. EXEMPTION AND CLEARANCE PRINCIPLES AND THEIR APPLICATION ... 6

4. RADIATION DOSE ASSESSMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5. DERIVATION OF CLEARANCE LEVELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

APPENDIX A: AVERAGING PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

APPENDIX B: ESTIMATION OF GENERIC CLEARANCE VALUES FOR

APPENDIX C: ESTIMATION OF COLLECTIVE DOSES CORRESPONDING TO

CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

The objective of this report is to provide guidance on translating the principles of

The report is supplemented by appendices describing: averaging procedures for waste

2.1. WASTE TYPES

2.2. WASTE DISPOSAL

(a) airborne effluents:

(b) aqueous effluents:

Radio- Physical half- Principal Waste Mode of

P-32 143 d clinical therapy, solid, liquid burial

S-35 87.4 d research solid, liquid burial

K-42 12.4 h biological research mainly solid delay and decay

Ca-45 163 d research mainly solid burial

Ca-47 453 d clinical measurements mainly solid burial

Cr-51 277 d clinical measurements, mainly liquid dispeisal

Fe-59 445 d clinical measurements, mainly liquid dispersal

Co-57 271 d clinical measurements, solid, liquid burial

Co-58 708 d clinical measurements, solid, liquid burial

Ga-67 326 h clinical measurements. liquid dispersal

Se-75 120 d clinical measurements, mainly liquid dispersal

Radio- Physical half- Principal Waste Mode ot

Sr-89 505 d clinical therapy mainly liquid burial

Mo-99 275 d extraction of Tc-99m mainly liquid delay and decay

Tc-99m 602 h clinical measurements, solid, liquid delay and decay

1-123 132h clinical measurements solid, liquid delay and decay

1-125 60 1 d clinical measurements, solid, liquid burial

I-I3I 804 d clinical measurements solid, liquid burial

Xe-127 364 d clinical measurements gas, liquid adsorption on C

Xe-133 524d clinical measurements gas, liquid adsorption on C

Pm-147 262 a lummating devices solid, liquid burial, dispersal

Er-169 94d biological research mainly solid delay and decay

Au-198 269 d clinical therapy liquid delay and decay

Hg-197 267 d clinical measurements liquid, solid delay and decay

Hg-203 466 d biological research solid, liquid burial, dispersal

Tl-201 304d clinical measurements mainly liquid burial

Th-232 1 40 x 10'" a incandescent gas mantles solid, liquid burial dispersal

a years, d days, h hours

(d) solid waste:

The disposal of patient excreta containing radionuclides sometimes needs special

A significant proportion of the radioactive waste typically produced in hospitals and

3. EXEMPTION AND CLEARANCE PRINCIPLES AND THEIR APPLICATION

3.1. THE SYSTEM OF REGULATORY CONTROL

In the case of authorization for the controlled recycle of radioactive material or

3.2. RELEASE FROM REGULATORY CONTROL — THE CLEARANCE CONCEPT

In considering the pathways by which humans may be exposed to radiation, it will

3.3. THE NEED FOR DERIVED QUANTITIES