ARCHIVE: e-Digest Statistics about: Radioactivity
Artificial Sources of Radiation
Exposure to the public through discharges from nuclear installations
The largest proportion of radioactive discharges arises from the civil nuclear fuel cycle and related operations. The major sectors and organisations are:
- British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL), which is engaged in nuclear fuel production, reprocessing and operating Magnox reactors, including, from 1 April 1998 as part of the Magnox Generation Business Group, Magnox reactors formerly operated by Magnox Electric plc
- British Energy Generation Ltd, formerly Nuclear Electric Ltd, and British Energy Generation (UK) Ltd, formerly Scottish Nuclear (SNL), which both operate advanced gas cooled reactors; British Energy Generation Ltd also operates a pressurised water reactor
- URENCO, which enriches uranium
- UKAEA, which has a number of research establishments
- Ministry of Defence (MoD), which has sites throughout the country
- Amersham plc (formerly Nycomed Amersham plc), which supplies radionuclides for medical research etc
- Hospitals, medical and veterinary research centres
- Universities and research centres
Atmospheric and liquid radioactive effluents and solid radioactive wastes are discharged from nuclear facilities to the environment under authorisations issued under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 or, in the case of Crown premises, are administratively agreed based on applications of the same standards. Such authorisations/approvals specify discharge limits and a condition on operators to employ best practicable means to limit the radioactive content of discharges. Together these controls ensure that
- - doses to the public are as low as reasonably achievable (economic evaluation having been taken into account)
- and that
- - doses to the critical group (that small group of the public representative of those receiving the highest doses from a source) are well within the 1 mSv annual dose limit.
On average the annual exposure of the UK population from discharges is much less than that to the critical groups and amounts to less than 0.001 mSv.
At the 1998 Ministerial meeting of the Oslo and Paris (OSPAR) Commission, Contracting Parties to the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic (including the UK) agreed an OSPAR strategy for radioactive substances. The ultimate aim is to achieve concentrations in the environment near background levels for naturally occurring radioactive substances and close to zero for artificial radioactive substances.
In Detail:
Further Information:
- Key Facts:
- Discharges from the nuclear industry
- Sustainable Development Indicators:
- M4 Discharges from the nuclear industry
- References, further reading and links to other resources:
- Amersham plc: Environment and social report - radioactivity
- Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra): UK Strategy for radioactive discharges 2001-2010
- The Environment Agency (2001), Monitoring of Air & Rainwater in the UK: Annual Results Report 2000. Defra/RAS/02.004
- Internet Links:
- Amersham plc
- British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL)
- British Energy Generation
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)
- International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA)
- National Dose Assessments Working Group (NDAWG)
- Nuclear Energy Agency OECD
- OSPAR Commission (The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic)
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)
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Page last modified: 16 September 2003
Page published: 10 September 2003