Pathways and Cost-Risk-Benefit Analyses for INEL Radioactively Contaminated Soil Areas Being Evaluated for Decontamination and Decommissioning

摘要

Several radioactively contaminated soil areas exist at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory; virtually all are contaminated with nuclides of cesium, strontium, and cobalt at low levels of activity. This study develops a method of analysis to determine cost effective alternatives for decommissioning these areas, considering risk to the workers and general public, as well as the benefits to be gained. Because much of the input data to the analysis is highly subjective and detailed radiological characterization of the soil areas is minimal, it was decided that an analysis based on a relative weighting method be employed. The results of this analysis constitute a relative prioritization list of the soil areas being considered for decommissioning as well as the recommended decommissioning alternatives. The results of this analysis indicate that, of the 46 areas considered, 11 should be left in place under protective storage and 16 should be left as is. Nineteen areas were not analyzed because they were either operational or characterization data were not available. These results are based on a maximum exposure to a member of the general population, through realistic exposure pathways, of 5 mrem/yr. (ERA citation 06:009655)