IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v12y2019i19p3740-d272384.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Simulating Three-Dimensional Plume Migration of a Radionuclide Decay Chain through Groundwater

Author

Listed:
  • Jui-Sheng Chen

    (Graduate Institute of Applied Geology, National Central University, Jhongli District, Taoyuan 32001, Taiwan)

  • Ching-Ping Liang

    (Department of Nursing, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung 83101, Taiwan)

  • Cheng-Hung Chang

    (Graduate Institute of Applied Geology, National Central University, Jhongli District, Taoyuan 32001, Taiwan)

  • Ming-Hsien Wan

    (Fuel Cycle and Materials Administration, Atomic Energy Council, Taipei 23452, Taiwan)

Abstract

In this study, we present a semi-analytical model for simulating three-dimensional radioactivity transport of a radionuclide decay chain and assessing the radiological dose impact on the general public. The mechanisms and processes considered in the model include the one-dimensional advection, hydrodynamic dispersion in longitudinal and two lateral directions, linear equilibrium sorption, and first-order radioactive decay reactions. The semi-analytical model is derived for a semi-infinite domain, and the solutions in the Laplace domain for members of the decay chain are first generalized in a compact format. The concentrations in the original domain of each nuclide are independently evaluated with the help of the efficient and robust Laplace numerical inverse algorithms. The accuracy of the derived semi-analytical model is demonstrated by comparison of our developed model with an existing analytical model described in the literature. The results of the verification exercise indicate that the derived semi-analytical model is accurate and robust. The developed semi-analytical model is applied to an illustrative example that simulates the three-dimensional plume migration of a radionuclide decay chain on both the temporal and spatial scales. Moreover, the time histories of the radiological doses at different distances from the inflow source boundary are presented to understand the potential radiological impact on the general public. The developed model facilitates rapid assessment of the radiological impact posed by the presence of radionuclides in the environment because of leakage from a nuclear waste repository or accidental discharges from nuclear facilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jui-Sheng Chen & Ching-Ping Liang & Cheng-Hung Chang & Ming-Hsien Wan, 2019. "Simulating Three-Dimensional Plume Migration of a Radionuclide Decay Chain through Groundwater," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-22, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:19:p:3740-:d:272384
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/19/3740/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/19/3740/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Genuchten, M. Th. & Alves, W. J., 1982. "Analytical Solutions of the One-Dimensional Convective-Dispersive Solute Transport Equation," Technical Bulletins 157268, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Salah A. Faroughi & Ramin Soltanmohammadi & Pingki Datta & Seyed Kourosh Mahjour & Shirko Faroughi, 2023. "Physics-Informed Neural Networks with Periodic Activation Functions for Solute Transport in Heterogeneous Porous Media," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    2. Mohammad Hossein Golestan & Carl Fredrik Berg, 2024. "Simulations of CO 2 Dissolution in Porous Media Using the Volume-of-Fluid Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Abhishek Sanskrityayn & Heejun Suk & Jui-Sheng Chen & Eungyu Park, 2021. "Generalized Analytical Solutions of The Advection-Dispersion Equation with Variable Flow and Transport Coefficients," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-23, July.
    4. Moisés A. C. Lemos & Camilla T. Baran & André L. B. Cavalcante & Ennio M. Palmeira, 2023. "A Semi-Analytical Model of Contaminant Transport in Barrier Systems with Arbitrary Numbers of Layers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-18, November.
    5. Ricardo Mendonça de Moraes & Luan Carlos de Sena Monteiro Ozelim & André Luís Brasil Cavalcante, 2022. "Generalized Skewed Model for Spatial-Fractional Advective–Dispersive Phenomena," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Tinesh Pathania & T. I. Eldho, 2020. "A Moving Least Squares Based Meshless Element-Free Galerkin Method for the Coupled Simulation of Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport in an Aquifer," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 34(15), pages 4773-4794, December.
    7. Unknown, 1994. "Proceedings of an international workshop held in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, 24-27 October 1994: Agricultural Impacts on Groundwater Quality," ACIAR Proceedings Series 134721, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
    8. Changbing Yang & Ramón H. Treviño & Susan D. Hovorka & Jesus Delgado‐Alonso, 2015. "Semi‐analytical approach to reactive transport of CO 2 leakage into aquifers at carbon sequestration sites," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(6), pages 786-801, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:19:p:3740-:d:272384. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.