Projects per year
Abstract
Scale residues can accumulate on the interior surfaces of subsea petroleum pipes and may incorporate naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). The persistent nature of ‘NORM scale’ may result in a radiological dose to the organisms living on or near intact pipelines. Following a scenario of in-situ decommissioning of a subsea pipeline, marine organisms occupying the exteriors or interiors of petroleum structures may have close contact with the scale or other NORM-associated contaminated substances and suffer subsequent radiological effects. This case study used radiological dose modelling software, including the ERICA Tool (v2.0), MicroShield® Pro and mathematical equations, to estimate the likely radiological doses and risks of effects from NORM-contaminated scale to marine biota from a decommissioned offshore oil and gas pipeline. Using activity concentrations of NORM (226Ra, 210Po, 210Pb, 228Ra, 228Th) from a subsea pipeline from Australia, environmental realistic exposure scenarios including radiological exposures from both an intact pipe (external only; accounting for radiation shielding by a cylindrical carbon steel pipe) and a decommissioned pipeline with corrosive breakthrough (resulting in both internal and external radiological exposure) were simulated to estimate doses to model marine organisms. Predicted dose rates for both the external only exposure (ranging from 26 μGy/h to 33 μGy/h) and a corroded pipeline (ranging from 300 μGy/h to 16,000 μGy/h) exceeded screening levels for radiological doses to environmental receptors. The study highlighted the importance of using scale-specific solubility data (i.e., Kd) values for individual NORM radionuclides for ERICA assessments. This study provides an approach for conducting marine organism dose assessments for NORM-contaminated subsea pipelines and highlights scientific gaps required to undertake risk assessments necessary to inform infrastructure decommissioning planning.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 106979 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-14 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Environmental Radioactivity |
Volume | 251-252 |
Early online date | 11 Aug 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright the Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.Keywords
- Decommissioning
- in-situ disposal
- natural radionuclides
- dose modelling
- contaminant
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Radiological risk assessment to marine biota from exposure to NORM from a decommissioned offshore oil and gas pipeline'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Developing an ecological framework for closure of offshore petroleum structures
Cresswell, T., MacIntosh, A., Dafforn, K., Chariton, A. & Penrose, B.
1/01/20 → 26/04/23
Project: Other
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Naturally occurring radioactive materials in offshore infrastructure: Understanding formation and characteristics of baryte scale during decommissioning planning
MacIntosh, A., Oldfield, D., Cendon, D., Langendam, A. D., Howell, N., Howard, D. L. & Cresswell, T., 5 Mar 2024, In: Journal of Hazardous Materials. 465, p. 1-12 12 p., 133506.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)31 Downloads (Pure) -
Current understanding and research needs for ecological risk assessments of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in subsea oil and gas pipelines
Koppel, D., Kho, F., Hastings, A., Crouch, D., MacIntosh, A., Cresswell, T. & Higgins, S., Jan 2022, In: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 241, p. 1-16 16 p., 106774.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open AccessFile27 Citations (Scopus)229 Downloads (Pure) -
Marine ecotoxicological effects of offshore petroleum infrastructure-associated contaminants: a systematic review
MacIntosh, A., Dafforn, K. A., Chariton, A., Penrose, B. & Cresswell, T., 4 Nov 2020, (Submitted) In: Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Literature review › peer-review