Abstract
In early October 2017, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed by Member States that low concentrations of Ru-106 were measured in
high-volume air samples in Europe from routine monitoring networks. However,
no information was given that an accidental release of Ru-106 had taken place.
Such events signify the need for prompt and accurate responses from national
radiation protection authorities in such cases. This requires that methodologies,
suited for operational use, are developed for spatial and temporal localization of
the source of contamination based on available monitoring data.
For operational use, nuclear decision-support systems (DSSs) should be extended with modules handling such monitoring data automatically, e.g. by employing the European Radiological Data Exchange Platform (EURDEP), and
conveying selected data to the national meteorological centre accompanied by a
request to run an atmospheric dispersion model in inverse mode. The aim would
be to determine a geographical area in which to find the potential release point
as well as the release period.
In the first year of SLIM (2019), the following results are obtained:
• Two case studies are identified and selected, viz. the European Tracer Experiment (ETEX-1) and the October 2017 case of Ru-106 in Europe.
• Methods for temporal and spatial source localization are developed, implemented and described.
• Deterministic numerical weather prediction (NWP) model data are derived
from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
corresponding to the selected cases.
• Quality-controlled measurement data of ground-level concentration are obtained from filter stations.
• The inverse methods for source localization are applied by using the DERMA,
MATCH and SNAP atmospheric dispersion models to both cases.
high-volume air samples in Europe from routine monitoring networks. However,
no information was given that an accidental release of Ru-106 had taken place.
Such events signify the need for prompt and accurate responses from national
radiation protection authorities in such cases. This requires that methodologies,
suited for operational use, are developed for spatial and temporal localization of
the source of contamination based on available monitoring data.
For operational use, nuclear decision-support systems (DSSs) should be extended with modules handling such monitoring data automatically, e.g. by employing the European Radiological Data Exchange Platform (EURDEP), and
conveying selected data to the national meteorological centre accompanied by a
request to run an atmospheric dispersion model in inverse mode. The aim would
be to determine a geographical area in which to find the potential release point
as well as the release period.
In the first year of SLIM (2019), the following results are obtained:
• Two case studies are identified and selected, viz. the European Tracer Experiment (ETEX-1) and the October 2017 case of Ru-106 in Europe.
• Methods for temporal and spatial source localization are developed, implemented and described.
• Deterministic numerical weather prediction (NWP) model data are derived
from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
corresponding to the selected cases.
• Quality-controlled measurement data of ground-level concentration are obtained from filter stations.
• The inverse methods for source localization are applied by using the DERMA,
MATCH and SNAP atmospheric dispersion models to both cases.
| Original language | English |
|---|
| Publisher | NKS Secretariat |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 47 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-87-7893-520-5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Bibliographical note
NKS-430Keywords
- Nuclear emergency preparedness
- Atmospheric dispersion model
- Source localization
- Concentration measurements