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Atmospheric Dispersion of Radioactivity from Nuclear Power Plant Accidents: Global Assessment and Case Study for the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East

Author

Listed:
  • Theodoros Christoudias

    (The Cyprus Institute, 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street, Aglantzia, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus)

  • Yiannis Proestos

    (The Cyprus Institute, 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street, Aglantzia, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus)

  • Jos Lelieveld

    (The Cyprus Institute, 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street, Aglantzia, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus
    Max Planck Institute of Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, Mainz 55128, Germany)

Abstract

We estimate the contamination risks from the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides released by severe nuclear power plant accidents using the ECHAM/Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) atmospheric chemistry (EMAC) atmospheric chemistry-general circulation model at high resolution (50 km). We present an overview of global risks and also a case study of nuclear power plants that are currently under construction, planned and proposed in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, a region prone to earthquakes. We implemented continuous emissions from each location, making the simplifying assumption that all potential accidents release the same amount of radioactivity. We simulated atmospheric transport and decay, focusing on 137 Cs and 131 I as proxies for particulate and gaseous radionuclides, respectively. We present risk maps for potential surface layer concentrations, deposition and doses to humans from the inhalation exposure of 131 I. The estimated risks exhibit seasonal variability, with the highest surface level concentrations of gaseous radionuclides in the Northern Hemisphere during winter.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodoros Christoudias & Yiannis Proestos & Jos Lelieveld, 2014. "Atmospheric Dispersion of Radioactivity from Nuclear Power Plant Accidents: Global Assessment and Case Study for the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:7:y:2014:i:12:p:8338-8354:d:43490
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Victor M. Becerra & Vineet Vajpayee & Nils Bausch & T.V. Santhosh & Gopika Vinod & Jiamei Deng, 2020. "Estimation of Radioactivity Release Activity Using Non-Linear Kalman Filter-Based Estimation Techniques," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-23, August.
    2. Secrest, J.A. & Conroy, J.M. & Miller, H.G., 2020. "A unified view of transport equations," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 547(C).

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