Atmospheric transport and dispersion modeling for the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project

Technical Report · Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5479442· OSTI ID:5479442

Ramsdell, J V

Radiation doses that may have resulted from operations at the Hanford Site are being estimated in the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) Project. One of the project subtasks, atmospheric transport, is responsible for estimating the transport, diffusion and deposition of radionuclides released to the atmosphere. This report discusses modeling transport and diffusion in the atmospheric pathway. It is divided into three major sections. The first section of the report presents the atmospheric modeling approach selected following discussion with the Technical Steering Panel that directs the HEDR Project. In addition, the section discusses the selection of the MESOI/MESORAD suite of atmospheric dispersion models that form the basis for initial calculations and future model development. The second section of the report describes alternative modeling approaches that were considered. Emphasis is placed on the family of plume and puff models that are based on Gaussian solution to the diffusion equations. The final portion of the section describes the performance of various models. The third section of the report discusses factors that bear on the selection of an atmospheric transport modeling approach for HEDR. These factors, which include the physical setting of the Hanford Site and the available meteorological data, serve as constraints on model selection. Five appendices are included in the report. 39 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 5479442
• Report Number(s): PNL-7198-HEDR; ON: DE91015810
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
HUMAN POPULATIONS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
EMISSION
M CODES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
DIFFUSION
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
HANFORD RESERVATION
METEOROLOGY
COMPUTER CODES
DOSES
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
POPULATIONS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
540130* - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
054000 - Nuclear Fuels- Health & Safety
990200 - Mathematics & Computers