Quintessa has developed technical guidance and associated software application (RCLEA) for Radioactively Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment in support of the Part IIa regulatory regime of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The RCLEA methodology is Defra’s recommended approach for the initial exposure assessment of potentially contaminated site. The RCLEA methodology can be used to calculate the total dose to individuals from radionuclides in soil and the results can be compared with health protection criteria.
The RCLEA software application provides a convenient implementation of the RCLEA models and data that can be used for generic and site-specific calculations. It has been implemented in Microsoft Excel® under Microsoft Windows® and is freely available from Defra with a limited warranty.
RCLEA consists of a single workbook (.xls file) with a collection of worksheets (pages) that contain all input data and results. For every parameter, a default library value is given (on a grey background), presented next to the user value (on a white background). All library values are protected against change. The underlying calculations are also hidden and protected. ‘Generic’ calculations only use library data, whilst ‘Site Specific’ calculations use the user specified data. Initially, all user values are set to equal the library values, however the user can modify most parameter values if required.