Ensuring robust radiological risk assessment for wildlife: insights from the International Atomic Energy Agency EMRAS and MODARIA programmes

In response to changing international recommendations and national requirements, a number of assessment approaches, and associated tools and models, have been developed over the last circa 20 years to assess radiological risk to wildlife. In this paper, we summarise international intercomparison exe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of radiological protection 2022-06, Vol.42 (2), p.20512
Main Authors: Beresford, N A, Beaugelin-Seiller, K, Barnett, C L, Brown, J, Doering, C, Caffrey, E, Johansen, M P, Melintescu, A, Ruedig, E, Vandenhove, H, Vives I Batlle, J, Wood, M D, Yankovich, T L, Copplestone, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Wild
dosimetry
Environmental Sciences
ERICA tool
exposure assessment
International Agencies
non-human biota
Nuclear Energy
Radiography
radionuclide transfer
RESRAD biota
Risk Assessment
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In response to changing international recommendations and national requirements, a number of assessment approaches, and associated tools and models, have been developed over the last circa 20 years to assess radiological risk to wildlife. In this paper, we summarise international intercomparison exercises and scenario applications of available radiological assessment models for wildlife to aid future model users and those such as regulators who interpret assessments. Through our studies, we have assessed the fitness for purpose of various models and tools, identified the major sources of uncertainty and made recommendations on how the models and tools can best be applied to suit the purposes of an assessment. We conclude that the commonly used tiered or graded assessment tools are generally fit for purpose for conducting screening-level assessments of radiological impacts to wildlife. Radiological protection of the environment (or wildlife) is still a relatively new development within the overall system of radiation protection and environmental assessment approaches are continuing to develop. Given that some new/developing approaches differ considerably from the more established models/tools and there is an increasing international interest in developing approaches that support the effective regulation of multiple stressors (including radiation), we recommend the continuation of coordinated international programmes for model development, intercomparison and scenario testing.
ISSN:0952-4746
1361-6498
DOI:10.1088/1361-6498/ac6043