Occupational radiation dose statistics from light-water power reactors operating in Western Europe

Since the early days of nuclear power, collective and individual doses for people engaged in the maintenance and operation of nuclear power plants have been published by regulatory authorities. In 1979 a small working party whose members were drawn from Member States operating light-water reactors (LWRs) in the European Community was convened. The working party decided that only by collection of data under a unified scheme would it ever be possible to properly compare plant performance and for this reason a questionnaire was drawn up which attempted to elicit the maximum of information with the minimum inconvenience to the plant staff. Another decision made by the working party was to broaden the data base from 'European Community LWRs' to 'West European LWRs' to try to take advantage of the considerable experience being built up in Sweden, in Finland and in Switzerland. All the data available to the Commission up to the end of 1984 are presented and commented on. The deductions are not exhaustive but are believed to represent the limits of what could sensibly be done with the data available. Results are presented separately for BWR and PWR but no other subdivision, say by country or maker, is made. Where interpretation can be enhanced by graphical presentation, this is done. In general, doses for each job category are expressed in various ways to reveal and afford comparisons