Review of existing Australian radionuclide activity concentration data in non-human biota inhabiting uranium mining environments

Conclusions

In relation to data gaps there are a number of topics that should be considered and discussed within the environmental radiation protection/radioecology community and could be further researched. These include:

developing Australian specific ash:fresh and dry:fresh weight ratios for terrestrial plants, particularly for those existing in arid/desert areas and for trees including Eucalyptus and Melaleuca species

distribution coefficient (K_d) values for Australian aquatic environments (i.e. the relationship between sediment values and activity concentration in filtered water) and whether these should be applied to estimating media concentrations in the absence of data

the approach to be taken for the inclusion/exclusion of as less than the limit of detection values in datasets when determining CRs for Australian non-human biota

Whilst less relevant to the uranium mining industry, the development of thorium tissue to whole-organism conversion factors may be relevant to other industries (i.e. mineral sands) and could be investigated by examining the Australian datasets in more detail.

Finally, this report has only dealt with equilibrium CRs that are used to support radiological assessments, particularly in the screening phase of assessments for long term exposure scenarios for equilibrium situations. Equilibrium whole-organism CRs discussed in this report are not appropriate for use in circumstances where there is variation in the radiological conditions (e.g. pulsed inputs of radionuclides or accidents). Alternative methods of quantifying transfer, including dynamic models should be considered in these situations.

1.11Recommendations

The terminology to be used in Australia in the future, and how data on domesticated species is incorporated should be considered as national guidance is developed for radiation protection of the environment in Australia. This guidance should also include recommended sampling and analysis regimes to ensure consistency across the industry sector.

The cooperative relationship with industry undertaken during this project is built upon to establish a non-human biota dataset relevant to uranium environments and that additional industry data is pursued. This is particularly relevant for those datasets that are known to be quite extensive but have not yet been paired with media data.

The data that have been collated during this project should be published. Publication of this data will benefit the Australian uranium mining industry by consolidating datasets, enabling a comparison to the international values, and will assist in supporting more robust radiological assessments, particularly in the screening phase of assessments for long term exposure scenarios for equilibrium situations.

Discrepancies in the current Australian dataset incorporated into the WTD should be reconciled; the approach to be taken with Australian data when including/excluding limit of detection values should be discussed and agreed within the radioecology/radiation protection research community; additional information that may be available from ERISS should be incorporated.

This information should be incorporated into the international Wildlife Transfer Parameter Database and a comparison of Australian CRs to the IAEA and ICRP summary values undertaken. This process should be done in a coordinated manner with industry, research bodies and relevant Commonwealth agencies.

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