Estimation of the radiation dose equivalent for the hypothetical submergence of a sea-transport package of low-level radioactive waste

ABSTRACTJapanese Electric Power Utilities plans to transport low-level radioactive waste (LLW) in CSD-C (36 canisters) and CSD-B packages (10 canisters) by sea from France to Japan. In this study, we carried out assessments of the dose to the public from a hypothetical release of radioactive materials from submerged LLW packages into the sea. The estimated dose equivalents from the CSD-C and CSD-B packages were 2.8 × 10−8 and 7.9 × 10−9 mSv year−1, respectively, for the near shore case. For the deep sea case, the estimated dose equivalents were 8.6 × 10−8 and 5.8 × 10−8 mSv year−1, respectively. These estimated results were much smaller than those found in a previous study of Type-B packages (spent fuel, high level waste, and mixed oxide fuel) and the ICRP recommendation (1 mSv year−1).