Skip to main content
  • No Archived Versions Available

Liquid Discharges from Nuclear Installations in 2023

Executive Summary

Data are available on ODIMS via: https://odims.ospar.org/en/submissions/ospar_discharges_nuclear_2023_01/

This report presents the 2023 data for liquid radioactive discharges from nuclear installations along with temporal trends for the period 1989 - 2023. On this basis, an assessment has been made for the discharges from the nuclear sector which comprises the following sub-sectors;

  • nuclear power stations;
  • nuclear fuel reprocessing plants;
  • nuclear fuel fabrication and enrichment plants;
  • research and development facilities;
  • decommissioning facilities and management of legacy radioactive wastes activities.

Full Report

Discharges are reported as total alpha, tritium and total beta (excluding tritium) in terabecquerels per year (TBq/y).

The overall trend in 2023 is a steady continuing reduction in the majority of reported discharges which reflects the longer-term trend.

The total discharges of alpha activity from all nuclear installations in 2023 were 0.12 TBq which has increased by 0.01 TBq (or 9%) since the previous year. Discharges of total alpha in 2023 are only about 4% of the 1989 peak and are the second lowest on record. Discharges from the fuel reprocessing sub-sector contributed 40% with the decommissioning sub-sector becoming the major contributor for the first time at 55% of the overall total alpha discharge in 2023. All sub-sectors combined resulted in a total of 0.117 TBq. The single largest contributor of alpha discharges in 2023 was decommissioning related discharges from Sellafield at 54% of the total.

The total discharge of tritium in 2023 was around 12,000 TBq, a 7% reduction from the previous two years. Discharges of tritium are dominated by those from the reprocessing sector (with 82% of the total from all installations from Cap de la Hague in France and Sellafield in the UK).

Discharges of total beta activity (excluding tritium) from all nuclear installations have decreased markedly since 1989 and in 2023 were only about 1.3% of what they were in 1989. In 2023 total beta discharges decreased by around 17% from the previous year to about 10 TBq and represents the lowest recorded levels since 1989.

Historically, total beta discharges have been dominated by discharges from the reprocessing plants and the nuclear fuel fabrication plant at Springfields in the UK to a lesser extent. In 2023, the contribution of the reprocessing sub-sector (36%) is significantly lower than the peak contribution of this sub-sector (81% in 2007).

The contribution of decommissioning discharges in 2023 was the highest contributing sub-sector for the first year (48% of all installations). Discharges from decommissioning, and the management of historical or legacy waste, in 2023 was 4.8 TBq.

Location of Nuclear Facilities in OSPAR countries discharging directly or indirectly to the OSPAR maritime area in 2023. Available via https://odims.ospar.org/en/submissions/ospar_discharges_nuclear_2023_01/