Environmental Remediation

Challenges,Policies and Strategies

Eliana Amaral

31 Oct - 1 Nov, 2011

AtomEco Conference, Moscow, Russia

Content

The Environmental remediation; The Goiania accident and its challenges; Policies and strategies to be set up a priori

31 Oct - 1 Nov, 2011

AtomEco Conference, Moscow, Russia

Environmental Remediation: what does it mean?

Measures to reduce radiation exposure to the public from existing contaminated land areas due to:

legacy sites, pos-emergency situations, planned on going operation and decommissioning). The contamination itself (remove the source, decontaminate materials, dilution for re-use etc), The exposure pathways to humans (change habits and land use, area isolation).
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Through actions applied to:

31 Oct - 1 Nov, 2011

Terms that should be avoided

Clean up: remediation does not mean total removal of the contamination, unless if taken as meaning remediation.
Rehabilitation and restoration: remediation does not mean to achieve the conditions prevailing before the contamination.
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When does remediation start?

Remediation is not an urgent action It starts when authorities decide to improve the protection with reduction of the exposure (in case of an accident it starts after the transition phase (between emergency and existing situation):

Enough time to take decisions, All stakeholders should be involved, including local population, Balance between risks, costs, benefits and remediation viability (based on restricted or unrestricted use of environment).

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Approach criteria

Technical, economic and social criteria should be considered

Radiation risk to the population due to the local use, Occupational exposure due to remediation works, Future waste generation from remediation, Benefits of remediation to the local society, Economic and social losses due to any remediation decision, Financial costs of remediation, Other non radiological risks incurred, ethical and environmental issues.

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Ensure a net dose reduction

The choice of a remediation option to reduce the existing exposure has to be justified and optimized to reach the desired benefits
Otherwise

it will contribute to unnecessary exposure of workers, generation of wastes, negative social impact and costs
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Key basis for remediation

Radiation Protection is at the basis of the decision making process (IAEA WS-3 and BSS SS115) Radiation protection is a philosophy, a paradigm of protection of human against ionizing radiation based on scientific radiation risk data (for setting a reference level of dose 20 mSv/a), justification of the action (more good than harm) and a balance of risks, costs and benefits to the society (optimization); Optimization does not imply reaching the lowest dose value below the reference value, but a balance among risk, costs and benefits.

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Other key remediation issues

Waste management: remediation is an activity which generates waste. It is fundamental to have criteria for landfill (clearance), municipal or industrial waste and for management and disposal of radioactive waste; Viability of the remediation action and technology: for restricted or unrestricted use, change of habits, area isolation, physical or chemical removal, dilution and re-use of material; Socio-psychological elements (site specific solutions, other experiences be taken into account need for different stakeholders involvement) ACCEPTABILITY, TRANSPARENCE (local authorities and public involvement and communication)
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Questions to be addressed a priori

Who pays for remediation? Who takes the decision and at which level of participation? Which are the national core values? Which are the technical criteria accepted at national level? Which are the national priorities for remediation? Which are other national, regional or local priorities?

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31 Oct - 1 Nov, 2011

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Main Initial Actions

Isolation

of the area; Monitoring and treatment of people; Decontamination/demolition of houses; Reconstruction of areas.

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Remediation of hotspot sites

torrential rain

contamination was spread

deep layers of soil were contaminated

Removal of top soil layers and concrete cover: 4 sites

Site 1

Site 3
High level of anxiety amongst the public + time and resources consuming remedial actions

Removal of the top soil layers and soil cover: 1 site

Site 5

Restricted use

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REMEDIATION FOR NON RESTRICTED USE OF THE CITY

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL PRESSURE

DOSE ASSESSMENT VERY CONSERVATIVE RADIATION PROTECTION CRITERIA NOT AVAILABLE

Radiation Protection Criteria

CNEN regulation: (CNEN-NE-3.01) 1 mSv/a for members of the public (ICRP 26practices)
ADOPTED CRITERIA 5 mSv in the first year 1 mSv/a lifetime average

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Operational criteria for

1 mSv/a gamma exposure indoors:

0,5 Sv/h and 37 kBq/m2 surfaces contamination;

1 Sv/h and 22,5 Bq/g in soil (upper 15 mm layer)

3 mSv/a gamma exposure outdoors

1 mSv/a internal dose

Home garden: not taken into account when soil was removed fruits: 0,65 Bq/g (leaves prunning)

Radioactive waste > 87 Bq/g No clearance value

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BEHAVIOUR OF STREET EXTERNAL DOSE

Leo ox s n tl e ge r t e na r r m at d e
1 . 0 0 . 8 0 . 6 0 . 4

relativdose

0 . 2 0 . 0 0

a s s u m e d o b s e r v e d

1 0

2 0

3 0

taoe ifpy mt a e s r t i() ei s r o d e n

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BEHAVIOUR OF STREET DUST

1990
2000

7000 6000 5000

7000 6000 5000

Bq/kg

Bq/kg

4000 3000 2000 2 1000 0 2 -1 1 0 -1 -2 -2 -3 -3 0 1 3

4000 3000 2000 2 1000 0 2 -1 1 0 -1 -2 -2 -3 -3 0 1 3

km

km

km

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

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km

Inventory of waste after 15 years

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Costs

Initial response lasted for 6 months Around US$ 20 millions spent 730 workers involved in decontamination activities Negative economic impact (banning of local ? internal products)
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In addition we had to deal with the non prepared staff and with the public

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Psychological effects

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Prepare to answer questions!

Am I safe? What should I do to protect myself & my family? Should I be monitored? Where do I get monitored? Who is in charge? Is foodstuff from there safe? Should I have an abortion?
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Summary of some concerns

Unforeseen uses of decontaminated areas Urban maintenance close to released areas Increasing number of victims Population concerns on long term effects Concerns about the repository
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Conclusions of the IAEA workshop in Brazil -2007

The strategy for the management of waste resulting from remediation activities needs to be part of the national radioactive waste management strategy;
The importance of the national radioactive waste management policy and strategy for identifying not only economic resources, but also resources of other kind, as human resources; The use of the concept of clearance as a means of optimizing the waste management process associated with remediation activities; The need for international initiatives to improve environmental remediation planning and implementation ; The importance of stakeholders involvement in the remediation process and in subsequent radioactive waste management
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Policies and strategies for remediation shall be set a priori

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Policy on remediation

Clear core values on which remediation is based upon Responsibilities for costs Clear structure of the institutions involved in all remediation process with clear missions and responsibilities Legal framework: consistent and coherent approaches applied to contaminated sites Inter-related legislation (groundwater resources protection) and frameworks Waste management legislation Need for stakeholders and public involvement
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Strategies for remediation

Availability of a plan with clear roles, clear budget and clear responsibilities of all institutions involved in the remediation process; Robust regulatory framework with national legal and regulatory tools with clear criteria for remediation;

Elaboration of a public communication and education strategy;

Inventory of contaminated sites and national priorities; Availability of human and financial resources.

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THANK YOU

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