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Environmental impact assessment of a new nuclear power plant (NPP) based on atmospheric dispersion modeling

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Abstract

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s short-range atmospheric dispersion model (AERMOD 12345) is a good candidate for radiological dose calculations to the general public and the environment. It advanced capability should provide better confidence in the accuracy of offsite dose and risk assessment. The code has been used to compute the scaling factors for air concentration and ground level deposition of fission products based on routine and hypothetical accident releases from the NPP site in Geregu, Nigeria (7°33′N, 6°41′E). All computations were within the 16 km emergency planing zone of a generic reactor design considered by the study. The scaling factors have been used to assess the potential environmental risk of the NPP using an integrated approach to the assessment and management of environmental risks from ionizing radiation (D-ERICA). Obtained results should provide baseline information for decision making in terms of operation license provision for the pioneer NPP.

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Acknowledgments

Our sincere appreciation goes to the Malaysian Ministry of Higher education and the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for providing a research grant (Q.J130000.2526.03H67) from which part of this work was supported. My sincere appreciation goes to my wife, Nazifa Haruna Muhammad and my children Rah’mah and Ghazwan for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Laboratory, Department of Physics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM, 81310, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

    Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, Ahmad Termizi Ramli & Muneer Aziz Saleh

  2. Department of Physics, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria

    Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu

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  1. Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu
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  2. Ahmad Termizi Ramli
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  3. Muneer Aziz Saleh
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Correspondence to Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu.

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Aliyu, A.S., Ramli, A.T. & Saleh, M.A. Environmental impact assessment of a new nuclear power plant (NPP) based on atmospheric dispersion modeling. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 28, 1897–1911 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-014-0856-9

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