Complementary studies: biosphere modelling for dose assessments of radioactive waste repositories

Already as a result of the highly successful first phase of the internation al BIOsphere MOdel Validation Study (BIOMOVS) considerable progress had bee n made in representing features, events and processes (FEPs) relevant to ma ny aspects of biosphere modelling. Nevertheless, at the start of BIOMOVS II , it was recognised that there was a need to further investigate and develo p available tools for representing the biosphere in long-term assessments o f radioactive waste disposal. At a practical level, the Complementary Studi es working group looked at the way contemporary models were able to perform calculations for a real site given the type of data available in real perf ormance assessments. The use of a well-defined database allowed detailed comparisons of FEPs for transport as well as for the calculation of exposure pathways. Results hav e indicated not only the common basis in many model descriptions but also w here further development and consolidation are required. This paper summari ses some of the key findings from the study. The title Complementary Studies was chosen for the working group to indicat e that work would complement waste disposal related scenarios from the firs t phase of BIOMOVS. Within BIOMOVS II the work of the group also complement ed the Reference Biospheres working group. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.