Tracking and control of the release of radioactive materials

The radioactive contamination of the environment and the exposure of the public to ionising radiation may originate in discharges of radioactive material released by facilities in a controlled way or accidentally or due to pre-existing situations such as contamination caused by accidents or nuclear tests in the past.

As a consequence of the operation of nuclear and radioactive facilities, radioactive waste is generated, the treatment of which produces solid waste materials and liquid and gaseous effluents.

The solid waste materials have very variable radioactivity contents. Those with the highest contents are stored, properly conditioned, in facilities suited to their properties. However, an important part of these waste materials have low activity contents which allows their removal, recycling or re-use without the need for radiological restrictions and using the normal means of handling other waste of a similar nature. To carry out this handling, it is necessary to ensure that their future use will not involve an unacceptable radiological risk to the population or to the environment.

The liquid and gaseous effluents receive a specific treatment to reduce their contamination to appropriate levels and are discharged to the environment. For this, the facilities in which they are generated must have suitable treatment and discharge systems to ensure that the doses caused by the discharges are below the authorised limits.