Atmospheric dispersion modeling was performed for a postulated design basis accident at a SLOWPOKE research reactor. The MCNP-5 computer code was used to estimate the neutron flux spectrum which was then used in the ORIGEN-S code to perform core depletion calculations and determine the radiological source term. The HotSpot health physics code was then used to model the atmospheric transport of the radioactive material released to estimate the resulting doses to the population downwind of the reactor. The highest total effective dose (TED) for a release from the reactor's exhaust stack in predominant meteorological conditions, stability class C, was 0.37 mSv, while a maximum TED of 4.29 mSv was estimated for a release at ground level. Ground deposition was estimated to be 3900 kBq/m2. It was shown that any hypothetical release of radioactive material resulting from such an accident would have no significant adverse effect on the municipal water reservoir close to the reactor.
Keywords: Atmospheric dispersion modeling; MCNP; Radiological impact; Reactor accident; SLOWPOKE.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.