Current understanding and research needs for ecological risk assessments of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in subsea oil and gas pipelines

Darren  Koppel; Fenny  Kho; Astley Hastings; Dean Crouch; Amy  Macintosh; Tom Cresswell; Stuart  Higgins

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106774

Current understanding and research needs for ecological risk assessments of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in subsea oil and gas pipelines

Darren Koppel, Fenny Kho, Astley Hastings, Dean Crouch, Amy Macintosh, Tom Cresswell, Stuart Higgins

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Thousands of offshore oil and gas facilities are coming to the end of their life in jurisdictions worldwide and will require decommissioning. In-situ decommissioning, where the subsea components of that infrastructure are left in the marine environment following the end of its productive life, has been proposed as an option that delivers net benefits, including from: ecological benefits from the establishment of artificial reefs, economic benefits from associated fisheries, reduced costs and improved human safety outcomes for operators. However, potential negative impacts, such as the ecological risk of residual contaminants, are not well understood. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are a class of contaminants found in some oil and gas infrastructure (e.g. pipelines) and includes radionuclides of uranium, thorium, radium, radon, lead, and polonium. NORM are ubiquitous in oil and gas reservoirs around the world and may form contamination products including scales and sludges in subsea infrastructure due to their chemistries and the physical processes of oil and gas extraction. The risk that NORM from these sources pose to marine ecosystems is not yet understood meaning that decisions made about decommissioning may not deliver the best outcomes for environments. In this review, we consider the life of NORM-contamination products in oil and gas systems, their expected exposure pathways in the marine environment, and possible ecological impacts following release. These are accompanied by the key research priorities that need to better describe risk associated with decommissioning options.

Original language	English
Article number	106774
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of environmental radioactivity
Volume	241
Early online date	22 Nov 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106774
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding
This research was funded by the Australian Government's Industry Growth Centre National Energy Resources Australia (NERA) through a National Decommissioning Research Initiative (NDRI) grant to Curtin University. The NDRI project was funded by eight industry partners including Shell Australia, Esso Australia, Chevron Australia, BHP Petroleum, Woodside Energy, Santos Limited, ConocoPhillips Pipeline Australia, and Vermilion Oil and Gas Australia. AH is funded by the University of Aberdeen.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Professor Claus Otto (Curtin University) and Professor Richard Neilson (National Decommissioning Centre, Aberdeen, UK.) for comments and support to the project team; and, Andrew Taylor (National Environment Resources Australia), Professor Peter Macreadie, Dr Rick Tinker, and the industry partners of the National Decommissioning Research Initiative for helpful comments to this project.

Keywords

Rigs to reef
Decommissioning
TENORM
Environmental impact assessment
EIA
Sea dumping
Artificial reef

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106774Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

@article{5bc678f4045c4ea68f8bc1cc448b422e,

title = "Current understanding and research needs for ecological risk assessments of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in subsea oil and gas pipelines",

abstract = "Thousands of offshore oil and gas facilities are coming to the end of their life in jurisdictions worldwide and will require decommissioning. In-situ decommissioning, where the subsea components of that infrastructure are left in the marine environment following the end of its productive life, has been proposed as an option that delivers net benefits, including from: ecological benefits from the establishment of artificial reefs, economic benefits from associated fisheries, reduced costs and improved human safety outcomes for operators. However, potential negative impacts, such as the ecological risk of residual contaminants, are not well understood. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are a class of contaminants found in some oil and gas infrastructure (e.g. pipelines) and includes radionuclides of uranium, thorium, radium, radon, lead, and polonium. NORM are ubiquitous in oil and gas reservoirs around the world and may form contamination products including scales and sludges in subsea infrastructure due to their chemistries and the physical processes of oil and gas extraction. The risk that NORM from these sources pose to marine ecosystems is not yet understood meaning that decisions made about decommissioning may not deliver the best outcomes for environments. In this review, we consider the life of NORM-contamination products in oil and gas systems, their expected exposure pathways in the marine environment, and possible ecological impacts following release. These are accompanied by the key research priorities that need to better describe risk associated with decommissioning options.",

keywords = "Rigs to reef, Decommissioning, TENORM, Environmental impact assessment, EIA, Sea dumping, Artificial reef",

author = "Darren Koppel and Fenny Kho and Astley Hastings and Dean Crouch and Amy Macintosh and Tom Cresswell and Stuart Higgins",

note = "Funding This research was funded by the Australian Government's Industry Growth Centre National Energy Resources Australia (NERA) through a National Decommissioning Research Initiative (NDRI) grant to Curtin University. The NDRI project was funded by eight industry partners including Shell Australia, Esso Australia, Chevron Australia, BHP Petroleum, Woodside Energy, Santos Limited, ConocoPhillips Pipeline Australia, and Vermilion Oil and Gas Australia. AH is funded by the University of Aberdeen. Acknowledgements The authors thank Professor Claus Otto (Curtin University) and Professor Richard Neilson (National Decommissioning Centre, Aberdeen, UK.) for comments and support to the project team; and, Andrew Taylor (National Environment Resources Australia), Professor Peter Macreadie, Dr Rick Tinker, and the industry partners of the National Decommissioning Research Initiative for helpful comments to this project.",

year = "2022",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106774",

language = "English",

volume = "241",

journal = "Journal of environmental radioactivity",

issn = "0265-931X",

publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Current understanding and research needs for ecological risk assessments of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in subsea oil and gas pipelines

AU - Koppel, Darren

AU - Kho, Fenny

AU - Hastings, Astley

AU - Crouch, Dean

AU - Macintosh, Amy

AU - Cresswell, Tom

AU - Higgins, Stuart

N1 - Funding This research was funded by the Australian Government's Industry Growth Centre National Energy Resources Australia (NERA) through a National Decommissioning Research Initiative (NDRI) grant to Curtin University. The NDRI project was funded by eight industry partners including Shell Australia, Esso Australia, Chevron Australia, BHP Petroleum, Woodside Energy, Santos Limited, ConocoPhillips Pipeline Australia, and Vermilion Oil and Gas Australia. AH is funded by the University of Aberdeen. Acknowledgements The authors thank Professor Claus Otto (Curtin University) and Professor Richard Neilson (National Decommissioning Centre, Aberdeen, UK.) for comments and support to the project team; and, Andrew Taylor (National Environment Resources Australia), Professor Peter Macreadie, Dr Rick Tinker, and the industry partners of the National Decommissioning Research Initiative for helpful comments to this project.

PY - 2022/1/1

Y1 - 2022/1/1

N2 - Thousands of offshore oil and gas facilities are coming to the end of their life in jurisdictions worldwide and will require decommissioning. In-situ decommissioning, where the subsea components of that infrastructure are left in the marine environment following the end of its productive life, has been proposed as an option that delivers net benefits, including from: ecological benefits from the establishment of artificial reefs, economic benefits from associated fisheries, reduced costs and improved human safety outcomes for operators. However, potential negative impacts, such as the ecological risk of residual contaminants, are not well understood. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are a class of contaminants found in some oil and gas infrastructure (e.g. pipelines) and includes radionuclides of uranium, thorium, radium, radon, lead, and polonium. NORM are ubiquitous in oil and gas reservoirs around the world and may form contamination products including scales and sludges in subsea infrastructure due to their chemistries and the physical processes of oil and gas extraction. The risk that NORM from these sources pose to marine ecosystems is not yet understood meaning that decisions made about decommissioning may not deliver the best outcomes for environments. In this review, we consider the life of NORM-contamination products in oil and gas systems, their expected exposure pathways in the marine environment, and possible ecological impacts following release. These are accompanied by the key research priorities that need to better describe risk associated with decommissioning options.

AB - Thousands of offshore oil and gas facilities are coming to the end of their life in jurisdictions worldwide and will require decommissioning. In-situ decommissioning, where the subsea components of that infrastructure are left in the marine environment following the end of its productive life, has been proposed as an option that delivers net benefits, including from: ecological benefits from the establishment of artificial reefs, economic benefits from associated fisheries, reduced costs and improved human safety outcomes for operators. However, potential negative impacts, such as the ecological risk of residual contaminants, are not well understood. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are a class of contaminants found in some oil and gas infrastructure (e.g. pipelines) and includes radionuclides of uranium, thorium, radium, radon, lead, and polonium. NORM are ubiquitous in oil and gas reservoirs around the world and may form contamination products including scales and sludges in subsea infrastructure due to their chemistries and the physical processes of oil and gas extraction. The risk that NORM from these sources pose to marine ecosystems is not yet understood meaning that decisions made about decommissioning may not deliver the best outcomes for environments. In this review, we consider the life of NORM-contamination products in oil and gas systems, their expected exposure pathways in the marine environment, and possible ecological impacts following release. These are accompanied by the key research priorities that need to better describe risk associated with decommissioning options.

KW - Rigs to reef

KW - Decommissioning

KW - TENORM

KW - Environmental impact assessment

KW - EIA

KW - Sea dumping

KW - Artificial reef

U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106774

DO - 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2021.106774

M3 - Article

SN - 0265-931X

VL - 241

JO - Journal of environmental radioactivity

JF - Journal of environmental radioactivity

M1 - 106774

ER -

Current understanding and research needs for ecological risk assessments of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in subsea oil and gas pipelines

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this