Effect of radon dose on cleanup criteria and using RESRAD for chemical risk assessment

The US Department of Energy has used RESRAD, a pathway analysis program developed at Argonne National Laboratory, in conjunction with the as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) principle to develop site-specific residual radioactive material guidelines (cleanup criteria) for many sites. This study examines the effects of the radon pathway, recently added to the RESRAD program, on the calculation of uranium, radium, and thorium cleanup criteria. The results show that the derived uranium guidelines will not be affected by the radon ingrowth considerations. The effect of radon on radium and thorium generic guidelines is more significant, but the model does indicate that at the generic soil limits used for radium and thorium the indoor radon decay product concentrations would be below the 0.02 working level standard. This study also examines the feasibility of applying RESRAD to chemical risk assessment. The results show that RESRAD can perform risk assessment of toxic chemicals after simple modifications. Expansion of the RESRAD database to include chemical compounds will increase its capability to handle chemical risk assessments. 11 refs., 3 tabs