title: Use of a simulation model in occupational dose assessment at a high-level radioactive waste repository.
abstract: Occupational radiation dose assessment at a nuclear facility can benefit from a systems approach that recognizes the complex dynamics of the facility. A simulation model can be a useful tool for accomplishing this goal. This technique can quantify the uncertainty in estimates of occupational dose equivalent and illustrate the effects of system interactions. A simulation model of operations at a high-level radioactive waste repository together with a radiological dose assessment model were used to illustrate this technique. Annual individual and collective occupational dose equivalents were estimated in the truck cask receiving and handling stations at a repository. The uncertainty of these estimates is shown through the use of complementary cumulative distribution functions. The effects of changing parameters in cask handling operations are examined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Radiation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Maheras
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Tarapore
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Borak
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004738:Engineering; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D006801:Humans; D007220:Industrial Waste; D009874:Operations Research; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011835:Radiation Protection; D011850:Radioactive Waste; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D013597:Systems Analysis
chemical_list: D006256:Hazardous Waste; D007220:Industrial Waste; D011850:Radioactive Waste