Public Dose from a Multi-Unit CANDU Site Compared with Site Limit and Natural Background Radiation

Abstract

Beyond the exclusion area boundary (EAB) that surrounds a CANDU® site, the maximum annual dose to members of the public, during normal operation, must comply with the national regulatory limits of the country in which the station is located. The Wolsong site, located on the south-east coast of the Republic of Korea, has four CANDU 6 plants, either operating or under construction. The Korean Electric Power Company (KEPCO) has proposed expanding the site to the north. The extended site could conceivably accommodate six CANDU 9 plants with an EAB at a 500-m radius. This study calculates the public dose at the EAB around the extended Wolsong site under normal operation. The work shows that the site could accommodate four CANDU 6 and six CANDU 9 plants without exceeding the annual dose allowed to a member of the public at the EAB, and giving only a small annual dose to the most-exposed member of the public living at the EAB.