Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T13:08:39.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Modelling the long term dispersion of radioactive liquid effluent and dose from marine pathways using a grid model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2009

J. Barescut ,
P. Gleizon ,
P. McDonald  and
S. E. Bryan
P. Gleizon
Affiliation:
Westlakes Scientific Consulting Ltd., The Princess Royal Building, Westlakes Science & Technology Park, Moor Row, Cumbria CA24 3LN, UK
P. McDonald
Affiliation:
Westlakes Scientific Consulting Ltd., The Princess Royal Building, Westlakes Science & Technology Park, Moor Row, Cumbria CA24 3LN, UK
S. E. Bryan
Affiliation:
Westlakes Scientific Consulting Ltd., The Princess Royal Building, Westlakes Science & Technology Park, Moor Row, Cumbria CA24 3LN, UK
Get access

Abstract

A grid model was developed to combine small-scale grid resolution and long-term predictions of radionuclide dispersion in shallow seas. A predictor-corrector algorithm ensures an unconditional stability of the model. Four modules calculate the concentration of suspended sediments, the dispersion of radionuclides in the marine environment, and the doses to members of the public and marine biota. The model was applied to the dispersion of liquid effluent in the Irish Sea from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, Cumbria (UK). The concentration factors and partition coefficients have been calibrated for biota species and local conditions. The validation against environmental samples for twenty-two radionuclides shows a good agreement between predicted and measured values.

Type
Research Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 44 , Issue 5: ECORAD 2008 - Radioecology and Environmental Radioactivity , 2009 , pp. 891 - 896
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Iosjpe M., J. Brown and P. Strand, A modified approach for box modelling of radiological consequences from releases into the marine environment, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 60 (2002) 297–322.
Abril J.M. and M. García León, A 2D 4-phases marine dispersion model for non-conservative radionuclides. Part I: conceptual and computational model, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 20 (1993) 71–88.
Howorth J. and C.R. Kirby, Studies of environmental radioactivity in Cumbria. Part 11: modelling the dispersion of radionuclides in the Irish Sea. Environmental and Medical Sciences Division, Harwell Laboratory, AERE-R11734 (1988).
DHI, MIKE21 Coastal hydraulics and oceanography hydrodynamics module release 2.6. Danish Hydraulics Institute (1996).
Gear C.W., Numerical initial value problems in ordinary differential equations. Prentice-Hall, NJ (1971).
MAFF, Aquatic environment monitoring report Radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles. Directorate of Fisheries Research, Lowestoft (1967–1994).
Smith C.N., T.H. Stewart and P. McDonald, Results from an intensive measurement programme for suspended particulate matter in the region of the Irish Sea between Anglesey and the Isle of Man, Continental Shelf Research 23 (2003) 1005–1018.
McCubbin D., K.S. Leonard and H.S. Emerson, The role of thermal and photochemical reactions upon the remobilisation of Pu from an Irish Sea sediment, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 44 (1999) 253–273.
FSA, Radioactivity in food and the environment, 1997–2004. Food Standard Agency, Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Environment & Heritage Service, RIFE 1–11 (1996–2005).
Vives i Batlle J., S.R. Jones and J.M. Gomez-Ros, A method for calculation of dose per unit concentration values for aquatic biota. Journal of Radiological Protection 24 (2004) a1–a2.
Gray J., S.R. Jones and A.D. Smith, Discharges to the environment from the Sellafield site, Journal of Radiological Protection 15 (2) (1995) 99–131.
Jefferies D.F. and A.K. Steele, Observed and predicted concentrations of Caesium-137 in Seawater of the Irish Sea 1970–1985, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 10 (1989) 173–189.
Olsen Y.S. and J. Vives i Batlle, A model for the bioaccumulation of 99Tc in lobsters (Homarus gammarus) from the West Cumbria coast, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 67 (2003) 219–233.
Vives i Batlle, J., R.C. Wilson, S.J. Watts, S.R. Jones, P. McDonald and S. Vives-Lynch, Dynamic model for the assessment of radiological exposure to marine biota, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity (accepted for publication).