RD&D-Programme 2004 - SKB

the underlying material are currently being studied to enable general conclusions to be drawn
regarding how the biosphere should be handled in future safety assessments in order to satisfy
the authorities’ demands and wishes.
The planning of future safety assessments (SR-Can and SR-Site) has yielded new insights
on how future safety assessments should be conducted /20-1/. The development work that is
needed to be able to conduct the assessment is presented in section 20.4.
The work of addressing radiological effects on the environment was begun in the EU project
Fasset, see section 20.9, and at the Department of Systems Ecology at Stockholm University
and was aimed at compiling experience from ecotoxicology and protection of the environment
from toxic substances.
Programme
Several safety assessments will be conducted and planned during the coming period. Most
of the work will therefore be aimed at conducting these assessments and supplementing or
improving present-day knowledge or methods, see for example /20-1/ and /20-2/. The intention
is to be able to handle time-dependent and coupled ecosystems, see Figure 20-3.
Conceptual
flow model
A
B
Lake A
Lake B
Mire D
D
C
Lake C
Year 4000 AD
Conceptual
flow model
A
B
Lake A
Lake B
D
C
Lake D
Lake C
Year 3000 AD
Conceptual
flow model
A
B
Lake A
Lake B
Lake D
D
C
Coast C
Year –3000 AD
Figure 20-3. Schematic illustration of how the ecosystems are coupled together with how the
surface water runs through them at different points in time during an interglacial period.
288 RD&D-Programme 2004