Improvement of the resuspension model for OSCAAR using the atmosphere-soil-vegetation model SOLVEG-R (Contract research)

Nakanishi, Chika*; Ota, Masakazu; Hirouchi, Jun; Takahara, Shogo

JAEA-Research 2023-012, 29 Pages, 2024/02

JAEA-Research-2023-012.pdf:6.05MB

The OSCAAR program is a probabilistic risk assessment program for reactor accidents developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. To improve the model included in the OSCAAR program, which is about long-term exposure caused by the resuspension of radioactive materials deposited on soil surfaces, we calculated resuspension factors for Cs-137. The one- dimensional atmosphere-SOiL-VEGetation model, SOLVEG-R was utilized to compute resuspension factor. The wind velocity was kept constant in this study since it significantly affects particle resuspension behavior. Our calculations indicate that wind velocities below 6 m s resulted in little variation in the annual mean resuspension factor at a height of 1 m. However, as wind velocities increased above 6 m s, the resuspension factor significantly increased. The resuspension factors ranged from 10 to 10 m for wind velocities ranging from 1 m s to 7 m s.

Comparison of waste estimation capabilities of the models, WEST and ERMIN

Hirouchi, Jun; Charnock, T.*

JAEA-Research 2023-009, 47 Pages, 2023/10

JAEA-Research-2023-009.pdf:1.65MB

In Decision making during the recovery phase of a radiation emergency, it is important to provide predicted doses to those implementing the recovery strategy for different options, costs, effort, amount of waste and radioactive concentration of that waste for different options. The European Model for Inhabited Areas (ERMIN) can provide the information. The Waste Estimation Support Tool (WEST), which was developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, is focussed on estimating the potential volume and radioactivity levels of waste generated by a radiological incident and subsequent decontamination efforts. This study shows an exercise to compare the waste calculation approaches of the ERMIN and WEST in order to inform further development of the ERMIN tool. From the comparison between ERMIN and WEST, following potential improvements in ERMIN have been suggested: 1) Develop a better representation of interiors to allow for decontamination options for walls and ceilings to be evaluated; 2) Subdivide waste endpoints into liquid and solid components; 3) Addition of high-pressure washing and firehosing on concrete surfaces; and 4) Addition of various building coverage ratio for different building environments.

Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses for the reduction factor of sheltering for radiation exposures

Hirouchi, Jun; Takahara, Shogo; Komagamine, Hiroshi*

Journal of Radiological Protection, 42(4), p.041503_1 - 041503_12, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/aca0ff

Sheltering is one of the countermeasures against radiation exposure during nuclear accidents. The effectiveness of sheltering for inhalation exposure is often expressed by the reduction factor, which is defined as the ratio of the indoor to the outdoor cumulative radioactivity concentrations or doses. The indoor concentration is mainly controlled by the air exchange rate, penetration factor, and indoor deposition rate. Meanwhile, the air exchange rate depends on surrounding environmental conditions: the wind speed, leakage area normalized by the floor area of the house, and gross building coverage ratio. In this study, the ranges of the uncertainty of the reduction factors for particles and I were investigated under various environmental conditions, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to understand the parameter with the most influence on the uncertainty of the reduction factor. From the results of the uncertainty analyses, the calculated reduction factor was highly variable depending on the environmental condition and the airtightness of the houses. The uncertainty ranges of the reduction factor for particles and I were up to 0.9 and 0.3, respectively, and were smaller for newer houses. From the results of the sensitivity analyses, the wind speed was the most influential parameter on the reduction factor. Additionally, the wind speed was less influential for the reduction factor in newer houses.

Penetration factor and indoor deposition rate of elementary and particulate iodine in a Japanese house for assessing the effectiveness of sheltering for radiation exposures

Hirouchi, Jun; Takahara, Shogo; Komagamine, Hiroshi*; Kato, Nobuyuki*; Matsui, Yasuto*; Yoneda, Minoru*

Journal of Radiological Protection, 41(3), p.S139 - S149, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/ac025b

Sheltering is one of the countermeasures for protection against radiation exposures in nuclear accidents. The effectiveness of sheltering is often expressed by the reduction factor, that is the ratio of the indoor to the outdoor cumulative radioactivity concentrations or doses. The indoor concentration is mainly controlled by the air exchange rate, penetration factor, and indoor deposition rate. The penetration factor and indoor deposition rate depend on the surface and opening materials. We investigated experimentally these parameters of I and particles. The experiment was performed in two apartment houses, three single-family houses, and chambers. The obtained penetration factor ranged 0.3 1 for particles of 0.3 1 m and 0.15 0.7 for I depending on the air exchange rate. The indoor deposition rate for a house room ranged 0.007 0.2 h for particles of 0.31 m and 0.21.5 h for I depending on floor materials.

Internal dose coefficients for various gastrointestinal absorption fractions (Contract research)

Hirouchi, Jun; Tokashiki, Yuji*; Takahara, Shogo; Manabe, Kentaro

JAEA-Research 2021-001, 284 Pages, 2021/03

JAEA-Research-2021-001.pdf:4.23MB

Doses to the public are calculated with internal dose coefficients based on the publications of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in OSCAAR, which is a level 3 Probabilistic Risk Assessment code developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The gastrointestinal absorption fraction, , which is one of parameters of internal dose coefficient, is given the recommended value. However, although it has been reported that has uncertainty, the uncertainty analysis of has been performed on few radionuclides. In this report, to evaluate the influence of uncertainty of on the internal dose, we calculated the internal dose coefficient with various , and derive the relationship between the coefficient and . As a result, we indicate that the relationships are expressed by a linear function for radionuclides with a half-life of more than 0.5 days and are expressed by a cubic function for radionuclides with a half-life of less than 0.5 days.

Background radiation monitoring using manned helicopter for application of technique of nuclear emergency response in the fiscal year 2019 (Contract research)

Futemma, Akira; Sanada, Yukihisa; Kawasaki, Yoshiharu*; Iwai, Takeyuki*; Hiraga, Shogo*; Sato, Kazuhiko*; Haginoya, Masashi*; Matsunaga, Yuki*; Kikuchi, Hikaru*; Ishizaki, Azusa; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2020-019, 128 Pages, 2021/02

JAEA-Technology-2020-019.pdf:15.75MB

A large amount of radioactive material was released by the nuclear disaster of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), Tokyo Electric Power Company, caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the following tsunami on March 11, 2011. After the nuclear disaster, airborne radiation monitoring using manned helicopter has been utilized to grasp rapidly and widely the distribution of the radioactive materials around FDNPS. We prepare the data of background radiation dose, geomorphic characteristics and the controlled airspace around nuclear facilities of the whole country in order to make effective use of the monitoring technique as a way of emergency radiation monitoring and supply the results during accidents of the facilities. Furthermore, the airborne radiation monitoring has been conducted in Integrated Nuclear Emergency Response Drill to increase effectiveness of the monitoring. This report is summarized that the knowledge as noted above achieved by the aerial radiation monitoring around Higashidori nuclear power station, the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Rokkasho village and Shika nuclear power station, the full details of the aerial radiation monitoring in Integrated Nuclear Emergency Response Drill in the fiscal 2019. In addition, examination's progress aimed at introduction of airborne radiation monitoring using unmanned helicopter during nuclear disaster and the technical issues are summarized in this report.

Impressions of the 53rd Annual Meeting of Japan Health Physics Society

Hirouchi, Jun; Tani, Kotaro*; Tamakuma, Yuki*; Nakasone, Shunya*; Koike, Hiromi*

Hoken Butsuri (Internet), 55(4), p.185 - 190, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.5453/jhps.55.185

no abstracts in English

Radiation monitoring using manned helicopter around the Nuclear Power Station in the fiscal year 2018 (Contract research)

Futemma, Akira; Sanada, Yukihisa; Ishizaki, Azusa; Komiya, Tomokazu; Iwai, Takeyuki*; Seguchi, Eisaku*; Matsunaga, Yuki*; Kawabata, Tomoki*; Haginoya, Masashi*; Hiraga, Shogo*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2019-016, 116 Pages, 2019/11

JAEA-Technology-2019-016.pdf:14.09MB

By the nuclear disaster of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the following tsunami on March 11, 2011, a large amount of radioactive material was released from the FDNPS. After the nuclear disaster, airborne radiation monitoring using manned helicopter has been conducted around FDNPS. The results in the fiscal 2018 were summarized in this report. Discrimination method of gamma rays from Rn-progenies was also utilized to evaluate their effect on aerial radiation monitoring. In addition, analysis taken topographical effects into consideration was applied to previous results of airborne monitoring to improve the precision of conventional method.

Investigation on the influence of additional protective measures on sheltering effectiveness for internal exposure

Hirouchi, Jun; Takahara, Shogo; Komagamine, Hiroshi*; Munakata, Masahiro

Proceedings of Asian Symposium on Risk Assessment and Management 2019 (ASRAM 2019) (USB Flash Drive), 7 Pages, 2019/09

no abstracts in English

Radiation monitoring using manned helicopter around the Nuclear Power Station in the fiscal year 2017 (Contract research)

Futemma, Akira; Sanada, Yukihisa; Ishizaki, Azusa; Iwai, Takeyuki*; Seguchi, Eisaku; Matsunaga, Yuki*; Kawabata, Tomoki; Toyoda, Masayuki*; Tobita, Shinichiro*; Hiraga, Shogo*; et al.

JAEA-Technology 2018-015, 120 Pages, 2019/02

JAEA-Technology-2018-015.pdf:15.01MB

By the nuclear disaster of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the following tsunami on March 11, 2011, a large amount of radioactive material was released from the NPS. After the nuclear disaster, airborne radiation monitoring using manned helicopter was conducted around FDNPS. The results in the fiscal 2017 were summarized in this report. In addition, we developed and systemized the discrimination technique of the Rn-progenies. The accuracy of aerial radiation monitoring was evaluated by taking into consideration GPS data error.