ESC, Radiological and Environmental Assessment

Your Next Step in Nuclear Problem Solving

Eden develops environmental safety cases (ESC) and perform radiological and environmental assessments, supporting waste disposal, land quality management, and radiological protection.

Our Capabilities Include:

- Radiological impact assessments and ESC development.

- Environmental modelling utilising tailored software.

- Support for waste disposal facilities.

- Radiological protection.

- Land quality management and contaminated land advice.

Why pick us?

Our extensive UK and international experience in the development and peer review of Environmental Safety Cases enables you to produce submissions that meet regulatory expectations first time, reducing the risk of challenge, delay or rework. Our knowledge covers both near-surface and deep geological disposal safety.

We can leverage advanced and bespoke modelling approaches allows us to clearly quantify radiological impacts, providing you with a robust evidence base to support defensible, data-driven decisions.

We have expertise in niche areas of radiological protection such as assessment of impacts to non-human biota and atmospheric discharges. We have advised clients on assessment approaches and carried out assessments in these areas.

Want to hear more? Contact Us

I want to enquire about this service

Core Service Details:

Environmental Safety Case (ESC), Radiological and Environmental Assessment at Eden

We provide expert support in the development, authorship and review of Environmental Safety Cases (ESCs) for near‑surface disposal facilities, landfill disposal of LLW, and on‑site disposals. We work for clients including radioactive waste disposal organisations, nuclear site operators, government bodies and regulators. We use our expertise in international and national guidance to develop assessments that will satisfy regulatory scrutiny and robustly support ESCs and other regulatory submissions.

We also offer particular expertise in radiological assessment for both people and non-human biota. We use a range of tools to carry out assessments, including ERICA and commercial software such as ADMS, PC-CREAM and GoldSim to model radionuclide transport in the environment and calculate radiological doses and risks. We develop bespoke GoldSim and spreadsheet models to assess radiological consequences.

Our senior staff have leading and extensive international and national experience in the development of ESCs, associated post-closure safety assessments and radiological assessments. They have backgrounds advising the NDA and regulators, bringing clear insight into regulatory expectations and achieving high quality ESC and related submissions. We bridge high-level ESC structure and approach, through to detailed modelling and analysis, drafting and preparation safety case documentation.

Our Case Study Examples:

East Northants Resource Management Facility Permit Application

In order to gain a licence for a waste disposal facility, the operator must demonstrate the ability to safely receive, manage, and emplace the wastes, without posing significant risk to people or the environment over the facilities lifetime. Permit applications must contain a series of quantitative and qualitative assessments that demonstrate risks are reduced to as low as reasonably achievable, and regulatory requirements are complied with.

Eden NE supported Augean PLC in developing the East Northants Resource Management Facility (RMF). This involved initially providing input to the planning hearing and then producing an Environmental Safety Case (ESC) to support revision of a Permit for the receipt and disposal of low-level radioactive waste disposal at the site. Eden NE had 7 staff members of varying experience supporting this project.

The assessments undertaken to support the ESC covered operational and post-closure periods and future development of the site. Eden NE provided ongoing regulatory support, enabling continued operation of the facility in line with evolving regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations.

Environmental Assessment for GDA

Eden NE supported the independent assessment of the environmental impact of a new reactor design as part of the UK’s Generic Design Assessment process. The reactor developer had undertaken studies to estimate how radioactive material released during normal operation could affect people and the environment, and independent assurance was required to confirm that these assessments were robust and suitable for decision-making.

Eden NE carried out an independent review of the work by re-running key parts of the assessment, reviewing the assumptions and data used, and testing how sensitive the results were to changes in key factors. This provided a clear and objective check on the developer’s conclusions.

We used the same software used by the reactor developer, notably dispersion modelling tools PC-CREAM 08 and ADMS as well as the Environment Agency's Initial Radiological Assessment Tool (IRAT).

The review found that the assessment was robust, with predicted impacts on people and the environment were very low and well within regulatory limits. Through this work, Eden NE provided independent assurance, helping to build confidence in the safety of the reactor design and supporting informed, evidence-based decision-making.

Dispersion Modelling

Eden NE supported a site operator in the development and application of advanced radiological assessment models to optimise aqueous discharge arrangements across multiple AGR sites transitioning to decommissioning. The project involved the development, implementation and critical evaluation of numerical models to assess radionuclide dispersion and resulting radiological impacts.

Eden NE developed site-specific conceptual models for the receiving marine environments at several sites. These incorporate hydrodynamic processes, radionuclide transport in water and sediments, and environmental exposure pathways. The models were used to understand the effect of discharge location (distance from the shore and/or discharge compartment) and cooling water flowrates (i.e. different operational conditions) on the dispersion and ultimately dose impact to exposed individuals.

We validated the models by comparing the results to scoping calculations in PC-CREAM 08 and to environmental monitoring data.

The assessment also considered system performance under changing operational conditions, particularly future decommissioning scenarios where discharges are no longer diluted by cooling water. Eden NE evaluated the impact of discharge location, timing and configuration on environmental behaviour and radiological outcomes, providing insight into system performance and supporting assessment of operational changes relevant to regulatory decision-making and the operator’s demonstration of Best Available Techniques.

The work has been delivered under structured project management arrangements, including defined planning, progress monitoring and quality assurance, with full documentation to provide a transparent and auditable evidence base.

This project demonstrates strong capability in conceptual modelling, GoldSim-based assessment, and the critical evaluation of methodologies and outputs to support regulatory decisions. The approaches applied are directly transferable to ESC review for near-surface disposal of solid radioactive waste, particularly in relation to environmental transport, exposure pathways and model-based assessment.