PNNL

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy has developed a graded approach fo assessing compliance with radiation standards for protection of biota. Limiting concentrations of radionuclides in water, soil, and sediment were derived for twenty-three radionuclides. Four organisms types (aquatic animals, rparian animals, terrestrial animals, and terrestrial plants) were selected as the basis for methods development. While data are available for aquatic animals and terrestrial plants, less information is available for terrestrial and riparian organisms. Two methods were examined for their ability to provide estimates of organism:soil and organism:water concentration factors in lieu of measured data. The kinetic/allometric approach combined with an uncertainty analysis apprach was able to estimate concentration factors across multiple species with limited input data.