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In the framework of the BioMoSA project for the development of biosphere assessment models for radioactive waste disposal the Reference Biosphere Methodology developed in the IAEA programme BIOMASS was applied to five locations, situated in different European countries. Specific biosphere models were applied to assess the hypothetical contamination of a range of agricultural and environmental pathways and the dose to individuals, following contamination of well water. The results of these site-specific models developed by the different BioMoSA partners, and the individual normalised dose to the exposure groups were compared against each other. Ingestion of drinking water, fruit and vegetables were found to be among the most important pathways for almost all radionuclides. Stochastic calculations revealed that consumption habits, transfer factors, irrigation rates and distribution coefficients (Kd(s)) were the most important parameters that influence the end results. Variations in the confidence intervals were found to be higher for sorbing elements (e.g. (36)Cl, (237)Np, (99)Tc, (238)U, (129)I) than for mobile elements (e.g. (226)Ra, (79)Se, (135)Cs, (231)Pa, (239)Pu). The influence of daughter products, for which the distribution into the biosphere was calculated individually, was also shown to be important. This paper gives a brief overview of the deterministic and stochastic modelling results and the parameter sensitivity. A screening methodology was introduced to identify the most important pathways, simplify a generic biosphere tool and refine the existing models.

At SCK.CEN a model has been developed on behalf of NIRAS/ONDRAF for the performance assessment of near-surface repositories, consisting of several submodels. This article deals with the submodels BIOSPHERE, describing the transfer and accumulation of the radionuclides in the biosphere and DOSE, calculating effective individual doses to the critical group. An extensive literature review was performed in order to determine best-estimate values and uncertainty ranges (probability density functions) of biosphere parameter values, specific to conditions that may prevail at potential disposal sites in Belgium. In this paper the BIOSPHERE and DOSE models are described and default and site-specific values (probability density functions where appropriate) of the parameters involved are indicated for the radionuclides 129I, 239Pu, and 94Nb. A combined uncertainty/sensitivity analysis based on the pdf of the site-specific parameter values has been carried out. Median values and 95% confidence intervals of the site-specific doses are indicated and most influential parameters to the uncertainty identified. Site-specific median dose values are also compared with generic doses.