Analysis of fallout prediction codes including the Fallout Assessment system (FAS). Master's thesis

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5475381

Gaudette, R D

The purpose was to develop a method to analyze nuclear weapon fallout codes and apply the method to one code as an example. Codes may be evaluated by three methods: (1) comparison of code prediction with data from an actual burst, (2) comparison with an accepted benchmark code, (3) analysis of the degree of approximation of physical laws used in the code was used in this study. Some of the attributes upon which evaluation should be based are: initial cloud model, local fallout activity, activity distribution in cloud particles, source normalization constant k, and the arrival rate of activity on the ground g(t). Of these attributes, many cannot be obtained directly from code output, they must be determined from an analysis of the source code or by consulting the code's author. This thesis discusses the code attributes that must be evaluated, and describes methods for evaluation based on code output. Finally, the analysis techniques are applied to the Defense Nuclear Agency Fallout Assessment System (FAS). It was found that the physics approximations used by FAS are generally good. However the code has a tendency to over-predict the dose rate close to the detonation point by as much as a factor of 25.

• Research Organization: Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (USA). School of Engineering
• OSTI ID: 5475381
• Report Number(s): AD-A-207407/8/XAB; AFIT/GEP/GNE-89M-2
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
DOSE RATES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
FALLOUT
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
DECAY
DETONATIONS
DISTRIBUTION
FISSION PRODUCTS
PARTICLES
RADIATIONS
RADIOACTIVE CLOUDS
CLOUDS
EXPLOSIONS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
450202* - Explosions & Explosives- Nuclear- Weaponry- (-1989)