Public Radiation Exposures from a CANDESAL* Co-Generation Facility

Abstract

As part of an evaluation of the practical and economic viability of using the CANDESAL (CANDU DESALINATION) approach to desalinate water in an Indonesian environment, radiation doses to members of the public were conservatively calculated. The calculations show there is a negligible radiological impact on the public. Conservative radiation doses to members of the critical group (an adult male and a 1- year-old infant) were calculated, according to the CAN/CSA N288.1 -M87 compartmental pathways analysis methodology, and show that use of the desalinated water supply would increase the dose to a member of the critical group (adult or infant) by less than 20 uSva-1. About 99% of the dose from the CANDESAL facility is from tritiated heavy water (DTO or HTO) and the rest is from trace concentrations of beta and gamma emitters. The doses to a member of the critical group from a combined CANDU 6 and CANDESAL Co-generation Facility will be less than 4% of the ICRP-60 recommended effective dose limit of 1000 uSva-1 to a member of the public. These doses are not only a small fraction of the regulatory dose limits, but are also within the normal variations of natural background radiation levels.