Assessment of consequences from airborne releases of radioactive material

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976

OSTI ID:7342801

McGrath, P E; Blond, R M

Over the past several years, the manner in which assessments have been made of the consequences of large airborne releases of radioactive material has not changed much conceptually. The models to describe the atmospheric dispersion of the radioactive material have generally been time-invariant, i.e., the meteorological conditions (thermal stability, wind speed, and precipitation) are invariant during release and the subsequent period of radiation exposure of the population to the airborne material. The frequency distribution of the meteorological conditions are determined by analyzing several years of weather data from the appropriate geographical location. In reality, weather is continuously changing over short time periods (hours) following the release. It is to be expected that the changing meteorological conditions would have important effects on the potential consequences of the release. A time-dependent atmospheric dispersion model was developed and implemented in the Reactor Safety Study. This paper provides a description of the model and the nature of the results generated. Emphasis is given to an explanation of how, and why, these results differ from those estimated with time-invariant models.

• Research Organization: Sandia Labs., Albuquerque, N.Mex. (USA); Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: E(29-1)-789
• OSTI ID: 7342801
• Report Number(s): SAND-76-5681; CONF-761103-5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
500300* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACCIDENTS
AIR
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
DIFFUSION
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FLUIDS
GASES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METEOROLOGY
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVITY
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
STACK DISPOSAL
SURFACE AIR
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
VARIATIONS
VELOCITY
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WIND