Description
The effects on humans of any repository-derived chemotoxic species (and/or their degradation products) that might reach the biosphere.
Category
Categorisation as a Feature, Event and/or Process.
Features
are physical components of the disposal system and environment being assessed. Examples include waste packaging, backfill, surface soils. Features typically interact with one another via processes and in some cases events.Events
are dynamic interactions among features that occur over time periods that are short compared to the safety assessment timeframe such as a gas explosion or meteorite impact.- "Processes" are issues or dynamic interactions among features that generally occur over a significant proportion of the safety assessment timeframe and may occur over the whole of this timeframe. Events and processes may be coupled to one another (i.e. may influence one another).
The classification of a FEP as an event or process depends upon the assessment context, because the classification is undertaken with reference to an assessment timeframe. In this generic IFEP List, many IFEPs are classified as both Events and Processes; users will need to decide which of these classifications is relevant to their context and its timeframes.
- Process
Relevance to Performance and Safety
The “Relevance to Performance and Safety” field contains an explanation of how the IFEP might influence the performance and safety of the disposal system under consideration through its impact on the evolution of the repository system and on the release, migration and/or uptake of repository-derived contaminants.
Human exposure to chemically toxic substances can involve a wide range of effects, including teratogenic (developmental disturbances), mutagenic effects (mutations that may lead to cancer or hereditary changes transmitted to future generations) and carcinogenic (cancer inducing) effects and thus interfere with reproduction, growth and survival. It will be necessary to minimise potential risks of unacceptable mortality, decreased growth, or reproductive impairment for humans exposed to any repository-derived chemotoxic species (and / or their degradation products) that might reach the biosphere.
2000 List
A reference to the related FEP(s) within the 2000 NEA IFEP List.
Related References
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Wilson J, Thorne M. and Towler G (2009) Treatment of Chemotoxic Species: (1) Quantitative Human Health Risk Assessment, Quintessa Report, QRS-1378M-1.1, https://rwm.nda.gov.uk/publication/treatment-of-chemotoxic-species-1-quantitative-human-health-risk-assessment/