Levels, Variations and Sources of 90sr and 137cs in Environmental and Food Samples Around Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, China in 2012-2019

Environmental radioactivity monitoring in the surroundings of nuclear facilities is important to provide baseline data for effective detection in case of any radioactive release in the region. In this work, we report for the first time the long-term monitoring data of 137Cs and 90Sr in environmental and food samples around Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (QNPP) in 2012-2019. The distribution levels, temporal variations and source terms of 137Cs and 90Sr in the investigated samples were discussed. The annual effective dose (AED) for the local population from the ingestion of foods was also evaluated. Peak values of 90Sr and 137Cs concentrations and 137Cs/90Sr radioactivity ratio were observed in total atmospheric deposition in 2016 and some water and food samples in the following years. This seems to be associated to an additional radioactive input, mostly likely from the operational release of a local facility. This demonstrates that 90Sr and 137Cs, especially the 137Cs/90Sr activity ratio, are sensitive indicators for detecting potential radioactive releases. Nevertheless, overall 90Sr and 137Cs activity concentrations measured during 2012-2019 in this work were at the background levels with average AED far below the internationally permissible limit and recommendation.

Uncertainties in the assessment of the radiation impact on biota in the vicinity of nuclear facilities

Evaluation of radiation impact on biota inhabiting near nuclear facilities of radioactive release to atmosphere from reactors of different types (WWER-1200, BN-600, BN-800, UVV-2M) is consid-ered in the paper. Radiation dose rates to reference groups of terrestrial biota species (annelids, insects, large and small mammals, grasses and conifers) vary from 0.01 to 0.2 µGy/day. The im-pact of the NPP using up-to-date reactor WWER-1200 is shown to be not exceeding 1% of the to-tal radiation impact. To compare correctly radiation impacts on the biota species from radioactive release and from exposure to established radiation dose rate limits, it is necessary to take into account contribution of all constituents of radiation background. Impacts on biota species from the total exposure to radioactive release or the exposure to established radiation dose rate limits were evaluated. Estimated radiation impact from exposure to the radioactive release did not ex-ceed 0.1; the impact from the established dose rate limits was 0.9. Obtained information allows making the following conclusion: uncertainty of quantitative evaluation of radiation impact on bio-ta in planned radiation situations is mainly caused by uncertainty of established dose rate limits. There is a need to establish dose criteria for emergency, it will allow creating “weighty” radioeco-logic justification of “nuclear power plants with account for potential emergency conditions.

Internal doses to the public in the Fukushima prefecture from the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident

The article is devoted to the analysis of internal dosimetry in residents of Fukushima Prefecture due to the accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi NPP. On March 24-30, 2011, screening studies were conducted on measurements of 131I content in thyroid gland of children in those municipalities where the Japanese program for assessing the radiological consequences of the radiation accident “SPEEDI” predicted doses in the thyroid of one-year children from 100 to 500 mSv. Among 1080 children measured, 55% had results below the background, and the maximum estimate of the equivalent dose in the thyroid was 43 mSv. Measurements of several dozen inhabitants with other instruments and methods confirmed low levels of 131I in the thyroid. In total, the 131I thyroid direct measurement database of Fukushima residents contains approximately 1300 individuals. 75% quartile of individual thyroid dose distributions was below 10 mSv, the median was from 0 to 3.7 mSv among children aged from 0 to 15 years in the five examined municipalities. The contribution of short-lived iodine radionuclides was estimated as 15% of the dose from 131I for the main radioactive release on March 15. The effective dose of internal exposure to cesium radionuclides ( 134Cs + 137Cs), estimated from 10 thousand whole body measurements for the first year after the accident, was below 0.1 mSv in 90% of the examined people. Whole body measurements of children 6-15 years old in the second year after the accident confirmed the values of the effective dose of internal exposure less than 0.1 mSv, while the estimates of the effective dose of external exposure in the same children with using individual dosimeters determined the median distribution as 0.66 mSv with a maximum value of 3.45 mSv . The measurement results do not provide any basis to expect a future increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer and other radiogenic diseases among the Fukushima residents. Preventive evacuation of the population before the radioactive release, stay in enclosed dwellings, strict radiation control of food products have effectively reduced the expected doses of internal exposure to residents. In the predictions of the radiological consequences of the accident, it is necessary to take into account the actually implemented measures to protect the population, and local characteristics of the style of life and living.

Source Term Derivation and Radioactive Release Evaluation for JRTR Research Reactor under Severe Accident

The source term for the JRTR research reactor is derived under an assumed hypothetical severe accident resulting in generation of the most severe consequences. The reactor core is modeled based on the reactor technical design specifications, and the fission products inventory is calculated by using the SCALE/TRITON depletion sequence to perform burnup and decay analyses via coupling the NEWT 2-D transport lattice code to the ORIGEN-S fuel depletion code. Fifty radioisotopes contributed to the evaluation, resulting in a source term of 3.7 × 1014 Bq. Atmospheric dispersion was evaluated using the Gaussian plume model via the HOTSPOT code. The plume centerline total effective dose (TED) was found to exceed the IAEA limits for occupational exposure of 0.02 Sv; the results showed that the maximum dose is 200 Sv within 200 m from the reactor, under all the weather stability classes, after which it starts to decrease with distance, reaching 0.1 Sv at 1 km from the reactor. The radiation dose plume centerlines continue to the exceed international basic safety standards annual limit of 1 mSv for public exposure, up to 80 km from the reactor.

ESTIMATION OF THE RADIOACTIVE SOURCE TERM FROM RDE ACCIDENT POSTULATION

The design process of Experimental Power Reactor (Reaktor Daya Eksperimental/RDE) has been carried out by BATAN for the last five years, adopting HTGR-type reactor with thermal power of 10 MW. RDE is designed with the reference of similar reactor, namely HTR-10. During this process, source term estimation is required to prove the safety of RDE design, as well as to fulfill the concept of As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) in radiation protection. The source term is affected by the magnitude of the radioactive substances released from the reactor core due to an accident. Conservative accident postulations on the RDE are water ingress and depressurization accidents. Based on these postulations, source term estimation was performed. It follows the mechanistic source term flow, with conservative assumptions for the radioactive release of fuel into the coolant, reactor building, and finally discharged into the environment. Assumptions for the calculation are taken from conservative removable parameters.The result of source term calculation due to the water ingress accident for Xe-133 noble gas is 8.97E+12 Bq, Cs-137 is 3.59E+07 Bq, and I-131 is 4.34E+10 Bq. As for depressurization accident, the source term activity for Xe-133 is 3.90E+13Bq, Cs-137 is 1.56E+07 Bq, and I-131 is 1.89E+10Bq. The source term calculation results obtained in this work shows a higher number compared to the HTR-10 source term used as a reference. The difference is possibly due to the differences in reactor inventory calculations and the more conservative assumptions for source term calculation.Keywords: RDE, HTGR, Radioactive, Source term, accident

Air Mass Trajectories to Estimate the “Most Likely” Areas to Be Affected by the Release of Hazardous Materials in the Atmosphere—Feasibility Study

Countries continuously review and improve their Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R) arrangements and capabilities to take agile and rapid actions with the intent of minimizing health, environmental and economic impacts of potential harmful releases into the atmosphere. One of the specific topics within the EP&R field is the estimation of the areas that might be affected. A proposal is presented to estimate the spatial distribution of the released material. The methodology combines the computation of air mass trajectories and the elaboration of density maps from the corresponding end-point positions. To this purpose, density maps are created in a three-way procedure; first, forward trajectories are calculated from a certain location and for a long period of time, e.g., a decade; second, the selected end-point positions are aggregated in a density field by applying the kernel density estimation method, and then the density field is visualized. The final product reports the areas with the longest residence time of air masses, and hence, the areas “most likely” to be affected and where the deposit may be substantial. The usefulness of this method is evaluated taking as reference a ten-year period (2007–2016) and against two different radioactive release scenarios, such as the Chernobyl accident and the Algeciras release. While far from being fully comprehensive, as only meteorological data are used, the performance of this method is reasonably efficient, and hence, it is a desirable alternative to estimating those areas potentially affected by a substantial deposit following the releases of a harmful material in the atmosphere.

Assessment of Adequate Margin to Liquefaction for Nuclear Power Plants

Design of nuclear power plant shall provide an adequate margin to protect items ultimately necessary to prevent an early large radioactive release in the case of earthquakes exceeding those considered in the design. An essential question is how large the margin should be to be accepted as adequate. In the practice, depending on the country regulation, a plant margin of at least 1.4 or 1.67 times the design basis peak ground acceleration is required to be demonstrated. The catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant revealed the fundamental experience that the plants designed in compliance with nuclear standards can survive the effects of the vibratory ground motion due to disastrous earthquake but may fail due to effects of phenomena accompanying or generated by the earthquakes. Liquefaction is one of those secondary effects of beyond-design basis earthquakes that should be investigated for NPPs at soil sites. However, the question has not been investigated up to now, whether a “margin earthquake”, vibratory effects of which the plant can withstand thanks to design margin, will not induce liquefaction at soil sites and will not result in loss of safety functions. In the paper, a procedure is proposed for calculation of the probability and margin to liquefaction. Use of the procedure is demonstrated on a case study with realistic site-plant parameters. Criteria for probability for screening and acceptable probabilistic margin to liquefaction are proposed. The possible building settlement due to margin earthquake is also assessed.