Low-level waste shallow burial assessment code
PRESTO (Prediction of Radiation Exposures from Shallow Trench Operationns) is a computer code developed under United States Environmental Protection Agency funding to evaluate possible health effects from radionuclide releases from shallow, radioctive-waste disposal trenches and from areas contaminated with operational spillage. The model is intended to predict radionuclide transport and the ensuing exposure and health impact to a stable, local population for a 1000-year period following closure of the burial grounds. Several classes of submodels are used in PRESTO to represent scheduled events, unit system responses, and risk evaluation processes. The code is modular to permit future expansion and refinement. Near-surface transport mechanisms considered in the PRESTO code are cap failure, cap erosion, farming or reclamation practices, human intrusion, chemical exchange within an active surface soil layer, contamination from trench overflow, and dilution by surface streams. Subsurface processes include infiltration and drainage into the trench, the ensuing solubilization of radionuclides, and chemical exchange between trench water and buried solids. Mechanisms leading to contaminated outflow include trench overflow and downwad vertical percolation. If the latter outflow reaches an aquifer, radiological exposure from irrigation or domestic consumption is considered. Airborne exposure terms are evaluated using the Gaussian plume atmospheric transport formulation as implemented by Fields and Miller (1980).
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- OSTI ID:
- 6462323
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-810730-1; ON: DE81025172; TRN: 81-014189
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1981 national conference on environmental engineering, Atlanta, GA, USA, 8 Jul 1981
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
SOILS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
AQUIFERS
LAND POLLUTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RISK ASSESSMENT
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
WATER POLLUTION
DOSES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
POLLUTION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
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