The potential radiological impacts of the National Ignition Facility (
NIF), a proposed facility for fusion ignition and high-energy density
experiments, were assessed for five candidate sites to assist in site
selection. The GENII computer program was used to model releases of ra
dionuclides during normal NIF operations and a postulated accident and
to calculate radiation doses to the public. Health risks were estimat
ed by converting the estimated doses into health effects using a stand
ard cancer fatality risk factor. The greatest calculated radiation dos
e was less than one thousandth of a percent of the dose received from
natural background radiation; no cancer fatalities would be expected t
o occur in the public as the result of normal NIF operations. The high
est dose conservatively estimated to result from a postulated accident
could lead to a one in one million risk of cancer.