Simulation of Cs-137 transport and deposition after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident and radiological doses over the Anatolian Peninsula


Simsek V., POZZOLI L., Ünal A., Kındap T., Karaca M.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, cilt.499, ss.74-88, 2014 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 499
  • Basım Tarihi: 2014
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.08.038
  • Dergi Adı: SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.74-88
  • İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) accident occurred on April 26 of 1986, it is still an episode of interest, due to the large amount of radionuclides dispersed in the atmosphere. Caesium-137 (Cs-137) is one of the main radionuclides emitted during the Chernobyl accident, with a half-life of 30 years, which can be accumulated in humans and animals, and for this reason the impacts on population are still monitored today. One of the main parameters in order to estimate the exposure of population to Cs-137 is the concentration in the air, during the days after the accident, and the deposition at surface. The transport and deposition of Cs-137 over Europe occurred after the CNPP accident has been simulated using the WRF-HYSPLIT modeling system. Four different vertical and temporal emission rate profiles have been simulated, as well as two different dry deposition velocities. The model simulations could reproduce fairly well the observations of Cs-137 concentrations and deposition, which were used to generate the 'Atlas of Caesium deposition on Europe after the Chernobyl accident' and published in 1998. An additional focus was given on Cs-137 deposition and air concentrations over Turkey, which was one of the main affected countries, but not included in the results of the Atlas. We estimated a total deposition of 2-3.5 PBq over Turkey, with 2 main regions affected, East Turkey and Central Black Sea coast until Central Anatolia, with values between 10 kBq m(-2) and 100 kBq m(-2). Mean radiological effective doses from simulated air concentrations and deposition has been estimated for Turkey reaching 0.15 mSv/year in the North Eastern part of Turkey, even if the contribution from ingestion of contaminated food and water is not considered, the estimated levels are largely below the 1 mSv limit indicated by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.