A simulation study of dispersion of air borne radionuclides from a nuclear power plant under a hypothetical accidental scenario at a tropical coastal site

Meteorological condition in coastal regions is diurnally variable and spatially heterogeneous due to complex topography, land–sea interface, etc. A wide range of dispersion conditions is possible on a given day in the coastal regions. In case of inadvertent accidental situations, though unlikely, it would be necessary to examine the potentially severe case among different dynamically occurring local atmospheric conditions for dispersion and its range of impact around a nuclear power plant for safety analysis. In this context, dispersion of air borne radioactive effluents during a hypothetical accidental scenario from a proposed prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at an Indian coastal site, Kalpakkam, is simulated using a 3-D meso-scale atmospheric model MM5 and a random walk particle dispersion model FLEXPART. A simulation carried out for a typical summer day predicted the development of land–sea breeze circulation and thermal internal boundary layer (TIBL) formation, which have been confirmed by meteorological observations. Analysis of dose distribution shows that the maximum dose for releases from a 100 m stack occurs at two places within 4 km distance during sea breeze/TIBL fumigation hours. Maximum dose also occurred during nighttime stable conditions. Results indicate that, on the day of present study, the highest concentrations occurred during periods of TIBL fumigation rather than during stable atmospheric conditions. Further, the area of impact (plume width at the surface) spreads up to a down wind distance of 4 km during fumigation condition. Simulation over a range of 25 km has shown turning of plume at the incidence of sea breeze circulation and two different dispersion patterns across the sea breeze front. These results are significant in comparison to the expected pattern shown by Gaussian plume model used for routine analysis.