Radiological Impact on EC Member States of Routine Discharges into the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

The radiological impact of liquid discharges released into the Mediterranean Sea from European civil nuclear plants in the period 1980-1991 has been assessed. This assessment was part of the achievement of a group of experts set up in 1992 by the Commission of the European Communities to examine the overall radiological impact on the European population from natural and man-made nuclides in the Mediterranean Sea (Project MARINA-MED). A mathematical model, ATOMED, was used to predict the dispersion of radionuclides in the Mediterranean Sea, the transfers to the biota and sediments, and to assess the radiological exposure of the population of the European Community. Annual liquid discharges from each site and seafood catch statistics were provided by experts involved in the MARINA-MED project. The total collective dose commitment truncated at 500 years delivered to the EC population following the discharge of liquid radioactive effluents in the period 1980-1991 has been calculated to be 1.96 man Sv.