RPAplus Cymru Ltd.

The keeping and use of radioactive substances usually requires prior authorisation through the issue of an environmental permit. In England & Wales, permits are granted by the Environment Agency. Accumulation and discharge of radioactive waste arising from the use of radioactive substances will also need to be subject to prior authorisation. There are exemptions to this rule, generally for very limited work with specific categories of radioactive material.

If your organisation requires a permit to hold, use and dispose of radioactive substances an application form will need to be completed and submitted together with a radiological impact assessment for the proposed discharge and a ‘Best Available Technique’ (BAT) review.

A radiological assessment is necessary to quantify the environmental impact of the radioactive discharge. We can advise on identifying critical groups, selecting the best disposal option (to sewer, to atmosphere, to landfill, etc.), abatement options and monitoring. We can then produce an assessment of predicted doses to the public from proposed discharge routes (according to NRPB-W63 methodology).

The BATreview is necessary to identify all measures that need to be taken in order to ensure that disposal of waste is conducted in accordance with best practice such that waste production is effectively minimised. It ensures that all options for minimisation are considered and planned from the outset and that management of the process is placed continually under review. Dependent on the scale of operations a decommissioning plan for the eventual winding up of radiological work at the site in question may be requested at the application stage. We can offer a template for the BAT document and any decommissioning plan in-accordance with published UK and IAEA standards. Furthermore we can assist with various aspects of the planning process (e.g. identifying disposal options, selecting suitable decommissioning methods, seeking agreements in principle from waste repositories, etc.).