Source Term Estimation in the Presence of Nuisance Signals

Journal Article · Mon Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2019 · Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2019.03.022· OSTI ID:1530551

Eslinger, Paul W. ^[1]; Mendez, Jennifer M. ^[1]; Schrom, Brian T. ^[1]

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1. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)

Many source-term estimation algorithms for atmospheric releases assume the measured concentration data are influenced only by the releases of interest. However, there are situations where identifying a short-term release from an unknown location in the presence of long-term releases from a different location is of interest. One such example is determining if part or all of a typical magnitude concentration of a radioactive isotope in a sampler came from a nuclear explosion, such as the explosion announced by DPRK in 2013, while medical isotope facilities and nuclear power plants were also operating in the region. An estimation algorithm has been developed for the case where a short-duration release is confounded by a long-term nuisance signal associated with one or more additional release locations. The technique is demonstrated using synthetic release data for a hypothetical medical isotope production facility and a hypothetical puff release from a different location. The algorithm successfully determines the location and time-varying release rate from the medical isotope production facility and the location, time, and release magnitude of the puff release.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1530551
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-140511
• Journal Information: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity Vol. 203
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

atmospheric modeling
source term estimation
atmospheric dilution
concurrent releases