The use of safety indicators, complementary to dose and risk, in the assessment of radioactive waste disposal

The use of safety indicators, other than dose and risk, to complement the safety assessment of disposal systems for radioactive waste, is not a new idea. Several possible approaches have been proposed through the years, including a discussion in an IAEA document of 1994. The present paper reviews critically the various proposed indicators, identifies the most promising ones and suggests a possible approach for the assessment of their viability. In particular it suggests that a Coordinated Research Project should be organized with the main objectives of assembling, reviewing and generating the necessary scientific information on natural values, particularly fluxes and concentrations of pollutants, and on their impacts on public health and environmental quality. (author)