Description

The factors related to the biosphere (the surface environment, humans and non-human biota), the associated migration of contaminants and exposure pathways. Includes the geosphere-biosphere interface such as water abstraction wells, near-surface aquifers, and unconsolidated sediments, and groundwater discharge zones.

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.

  • FEP Group

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.

(no value)

2000 List

A reference to the related FEP(s) within the 2000 NEA IFEP List.

2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3

Related References

  • Details
    NEA Advisory Group on the Assessment of the Performance of Waste Disposal Systems (PAAG) (), The Role of the Analysis of the Biosphere and Human Behaviour in Integrated Performance Assessments, NEA/RWM/PAAG(99)5, Nuclear Energy Agency / Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, 12, http://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/docs/1999/rwm-paag1999-5.pdf
  • Details
    IAEA (), Reference Biospheres for Solid Radioactive Waste Disposal. Report of BIOMASS Theme 1 of the BIOsphere Modelling and ASSessment (BIOMASS) Programme - Part of the IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project, IAEA-BIOMASS-6, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, ISBN 92–0–106303–2, 560, http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Biomass6_web.pdf