Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T04:59:27.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Consideration of canopy structure in modelling 14C-labelled gas behaviour in the biosphere for human dose assessments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2012

J. Barescut ,
D. Lariviere ,
T. Stocki ,
L.M.C. Limer ,
M.C. Thorne  and
R. Cummings
L.M.C. Limer
Affiliation:
Limer Scientific Consulting Limited, Unit 1702, Block 3, Central Residence, No. 167, 1038 Hua Shan Lu, Shanghai, 20050 Shanghai, China
M.C. Thorne
Affiliation:
Mike Thorne and Associates Limited, Hamsterley, County Durham, UK
R. Cummings
Affiliation:
Low Level Waste Repository Limited, Cumbria, UK
Get access

Abstract

The LLW Repository Limited has recognised the potential importance of the processes being considered in the BIOPROTA 14C working group and funded the development a new 14C model that addresses the exchange of gas in a soil-plant-atmosphere system. This model considers two regions in the above-ground atmosphere and utilises concepts from the field of micrometeorology to describe the exchange of air between these regions and losses from the area of interest. The lower layer only experiences molecular diffusion processes in relation to the movement of molecules of CO2, whereas the upper layer experiences some degree of turbulent mixing as a result of winds which flow over the area of interest. The thicknesses of these layers depend upon the canopy density, which will affect the light intensity and thus the rate of photosynthetic uptake of carbon in the canopy profile. Model results demonstrate the impacts of 14C-labelled gas from the soil upon the calculated 14C concentration in plants for a variety of plant species (pasture and garden crops) and subsequent doses to human exposure groups. The technical modelling work described has been funded by the LLW Repository Ltd in support of its 2011 Environmental Safety Case.

Type
Research Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 46 , Issue 6: ICRER 2011 – International Conference on Radioecology & Environmental Radioactivity: Environment & Nuclear Renaissance , 2011 , pp. S409 - S415
Copyright
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

IAEA, C-14 in Rice Scenario, EMRAS Tritium/C14 Working Group Publication (2005).
IAEA, The Potato Scenario, Final Report. EMRAS Tritium/C14 Working Group Publication (2008).
J. Small, C. Lennon, L. Abrahamsen, National Nuclear Laboratory Report prepared for LLW Repository Ltd, NNL (10) 11233, Issue 2 (2011).
L. Limer, M. Thorne, G. Towler, A Quintessa Ltd Report prepared for the LLW Repository Ltd, QRS-1443Z-1, Version 4.0 (2011).
S. Norris, A. Albrecht, L. Limer, L. Marang, G. Smith, K. Smith, M. Thorne, S. Xu, in Proceedings of the International Conference on Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity, Hamilton, 2011.
M.C. Thorne, Mike Thorne and Associates Limited Report to Nirex, Report No. MTA/P0011b/2005-10: Issue 2 (2006).
Y. Zhang, J. Ma, Z. Cao, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 7045-7053 (2008).
R.H. Clarke, National Radiological Protection Board, NRPB R91 (1979).
D.R. Lide, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 87th Edition (2006).
R.G. Allen, L.S. Pereira, D. Raes, M. Smith, FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 57 (1998).
M. Mölder, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 84, 341-361 (1997).
B.D. Amiro, Y. Zhuang, S.C. Sheppard, Health Phys. 61, 825-829 (1991).
M. Monsi, T. Saeki, Jap. J. Bot., 14, 22-52 (1953).
M. Monsi, T. Saeki, Ann. Bot-London, 95, 549-567 (2005).
N.P.R. Anten, Ecol. Res., 12, 77-88 (1997).
L.M.C. Limer, K. Smith, A. Albrecht, G. Ames, L. Marang, G.M. Smith, M.C. Thorne, S. Xu, C-14 Long-Term Dose Assessment: Data Review, Scenario Development, and Model Comparison, Bioprota Report (in preparation).