Health risk assessment for fuel reprocessing plant

A health risk assessment for 85Kr was conducted. The purpose of the study was to evaluate radiological impacts of the EPA 85Kr legislation as embodied in 40 CFR 190. This was done by conducting a health risk assessment of the comparative risks involved in a routine release scenario versus 85Kr capture alternatives at a fuel reprocessing plant (FRP). The krypton contained in dissolver offgas, has historically been released routinely into the environment from FRP operations. There is an alternative to the routine release and that is capture, concentrate, and store the gas for long periods of time. Cryogenic distillation or fluorocarbon absorption are alternative methods for the capture of krypton. Ion implantation/sputtering is a method of immobilizing krypton received from the two capture processes. These technologies were evaluated based on the assumption that, for the extremely low doses and dose rates involved, the risks to individuals in the work force can be compared directly to the risks to members of the general public. Early conceptual facility designs for the three processes were taken from the literature