Evaluation and ranking of restoration strategies for radioactively contaminated sites

An international project, whose aim was the development of a transparent an d robust method for evaluating and ranking restoration strategies for radio actively contaminated sites (RESTRAT), was carried out under the Fourth Fra mework of the Nuclear Fission Safety Programme of the EU. The evaluation an d ranking procedure used was based on the principles of justification and o ptimisation for radiation protection. A multi-attribute utility analysis wa s applied to allow for the inclusion of radiological health effects, econom ic costs and social factors, Values of these attributes were converted into utility values by applying linear utility functions and weighting factors, derived from scaling constants and expert judgement, The uncertainties and variabilities associated with these utility functions and weighting factor s were dealt with by a probabilistic approach which utilised a Latin Hyperc ube Sampling technique, Potentially relevant restoration techniques were id entified and their characteristics determined through a literature review. The methodology developed by this project has been illustrated by applicati on to representative examples of different categories of contaminated sites ; a waste disposal site, a uranium tailing site and a contaminated freshwat er river. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.