Increasing the transparency of site discharge risk to the public.

This paper will demonstrate how a relative radiotoxicity classification of discharge inventories will enable greater public understanding of the risks and hazard posed by a nuclear site. Its universal applicability allows inter-site comparison of discharges to take place within the risk, policy and regulatory fields. After briefly introducing the concept, its application is demonstrated by consideration of the airborne and liquid discharges from the "nuclear fuel cycle" sites in the UK. These encompass the activities associated with the manufacture, use and reprocessing of nuclear fuel used in the civil nuclear power stations owned by British Energy pic and Magnox Electric pic. These sites were selected because they are quantitatively responsible for the majority of discharges in the UK, with the reprocessing plants at Dounreay and Sellafield predominating.