Abstract
Radioactive charging can significantly impact the way radioactive aerosols behave, and as a result their lifetime, but such effects are neglected in predictive model studies of radioactive plumes. The objective of this work is to determine the influence of radioactive charging on the vertical transport of radioactive aerosols in the atmosphere, through its effect on coagulation and deposition, as well as quantifying the impact of this charging on aerosol lifetime. The TwO-Moment Aerosol Sectional (TOMAS) microphysical model was extended to account for radioactive charging effects on coagulation in a computationally efficient way. The expanded model, TOMAS-RC (TOMAS with Radioactive Charging effects), was then used to simulate the microphysical evolution and deposition of radioactive aerosol (containing the isotopes 131I and 137Cs) in a number of idealized atmospheric transport experiments. Results indicate that radioactive charging can facilitate or suppress coagulation of radioactive aerosols, thus influencing the deposition patterns and total amount of radioactive aerosol mass available for long-range transport. Sensitivity simulations to uncertain parameters affirm the potential importance of radioactive charging effects. An important finding is that charging of neutral, coarse mode aerosol from background radiation can reduce coagulation rates and extend its lifetime in the atmosphere by up to a factor of 2.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 150-159 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Environmental Radioactivity |
| Volume | 192 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2018 |
Funding
This work was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency under grant number DTRA1-08-10-BRCWMD-BAA . This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle , LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Defense . The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). AN acknowledges support from a Georgia Power Faculty Scholar Chair, a Cullen-Peck Faculty Fellowship and Johnson Faculty Fellow funds. This work was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency under grant number DTRA1-08-10-BRCWMD-BAA. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Defense. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). AN acknowledges support from a Georgia Power Faculty Scholar Chair, a Cullen-Peck Faculty Fellowship and Johnson Faculty Fellow funds.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Defense | |
| Defense Threat Reduction Agency | DTRA1-08-10-BRCWMD-BAA |
| Defense Threat Reduction Agency |
Keywords
- Aerosol lifetime
- Coagulation
- Deposition
- Nuclear plant accidents
- Radioactive charging