RADIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTOF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS DECOMMISSIONING

As a consequence of the decision to dismiss the four Italian Nuclear Power Plants (NPP), Trino Vercellese NPP will be the first NPP dismantled in Italy. Trino Vercellese decommissioning activities will end by 2013 and will produce in this period a small release of radionuclides in the atmosphere and in the surface waters around the nuclear facility. These discharges may be however - in principle - responsible for a contamination in the environment and, thus, for doses to population living in the proximity of the NPP. The environmental impact of its decommissioning has been evaluated. A radio-ecological assessment was carried out to determine the most exposed populations samples (critical groups) which employs a code dedicated to dose calculation. Results, obtained on a conservative estimation base, showed that doses to critical groups and to population in general living near the NPP due to the decommissioning will be negligible from the radioprotection point of view. In particular, doses due to atmospheric releases will be below any detection limit, while dose due to liquid releases will be, for the whole period, equal to about half a hundredth of the annual dose due to natural background radiation.