Large-eddy simulation of plume dispersion during the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident by coupling with a meso-scale meteorological simulation model

Nakayama, Hiromasa   ; Takemi, Tetsuya*; Nagai, Haruyasu  

A significant amount of radioactive material was accidentally discharged into the atmosphere from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) from March 12, 2011. In conducting regional-scale atmospheric dispersion simulations, the nuclear emergency response system based on a meso-scale meteorological model (MM) was used. However, it is impossible to conduct detailed simulations of plume dispersion considering the turbulent effects in a local-scale because buildings, structures, and local terrain variability are not explicitly represented at high grid resolutions in those models. Therefore, an approach to couple an LES-based CFD model with a MM model should be promising. In this study, first we conduct LESs of plume dispersion around the FDNPP under a constant meteorological condition by prescribing constant mean wind velocities and directions at the inlet boundary condition, and then do them under a varying meteorological condition by coupling with a MM model. Our objective is to compare plume dispersion patterns under those different meteorological conditions and evaluate the effectiveness of the coupling computational method.