Trend Analysis of Commercial U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Radiological Effluents

Commercial nuclear power plants release gaseous and liquid radiological effluents into the environment as a byproduct of electrical generation. These releases are monitored by federal agencies to ensure compliance of regulatory limits. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offer guidance and make recommendations for domestic power plants effluent operations. Although these federal agencies track effluent releases, they do not currently compile or analyze the entire industry data. Because of this, international organizations, like the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), have not had a reliable source of U.S. effluent data for the last several years. These organizations require the data for evaluating trends and determining population dose. Individual nuclear power plants also require data for benchmarking operations and work management. In 1997, the North American Technical Center (NATC) began compiling and analyzing the U.S. nuclear power plant effluent release data. The purpose of this study was to identify trends, calculate average dose commitments, and benchmark U.S. nuclear power plant effluent releases over the last 8 years. Data was taken from the NATC U.S. Effluent Database developed by the authors. The collection of radiological effluent data has sparked new interest and debate about reporting and studying nuclear power plant discharges. Many more studies will need to be performed to solve some of the effluent trend ambiguities. Evaluating effluent data will also become more important as plants extend their operating licenses, perform reactor power up-rates, or begin new power plant siting.