Three-dimensional model of radionuclide dispersion in estuaries and shelf seas

The 3-D model THREETOX was developed for the assessment of contamination in coastal seas and inland water bodies. It includes a high resolution numerical hydrodynamic submodel, a dynamic–thermodynamic ice submodel, and submodels for suspended sediment and pollution transport. The results of two case studies are described. The first case concerns a 2-year simulation of the Chernobyl radionuclide contamination of the Dnieper–Bug estuary to validate the model. In the second case study, simulations were performed for the assessment of the consequences of the possible release of radionuclides from scuttled reactors and containers with liquid radioactive wastes in the Novaya Zemlya fjords and the East Novaya Zemlya Trough of the Kara Sea. The simulated results demonstrated the capability of the THREETOX model to describe a wide spatial and temporal range of radionuclide transport processes in the ocean.