Protection of natural ecosystems. The impact of radiation from waste disposal practices: a collation of recent review studies and assessments

The prime concern in regulating activities involving the release of radioactive materials into the environment is ensuring the protection of human individuals and populations. In almost all situations, the need to limit radiation doses to low levels is expected to ensure that radiation doses to other organisms will also be small and below the levels at which ecological changes could occur. These assumptions have not been seriously challenged in 30 years of nuclear power operations. Nevertheless, the issue is regularly discussed and recently it has been the subject of several review studies and assessments. Three possible exposure scenarios (or cases) for man and for non-human organisms are considered.