Assessment of Radionuclide Deposition on Korean Urban Residential Area

Abstract

Background: An important lesson learned from the Fukushima accident is that the transition to the mid- and long-term phases from the emergency-response phase requires less than a year, which is not very long. It is necessary to know how much radioactive material has been deposited in an urban area to establish mid- and long-term countermeasures after a radioactive accident. Therefore, an urban deposition model that can indicate the site-specific characteristics must be developed. Materials and Methods: In this study, the generalized urban deposition velocity and the subsequent variation in radionuclide contamination were estimated based on the characteristics of the Korean urban environment. Furthermore, the application of the obtained generalized deposition velocity in a hypothetical scenario was investigated. Results and Discussion: The generalized deposition velocities of 137Cs, 106Ru, and 131I for each residence type were obtained using three-dimensional (3D) modeling. For all residence types, the deposition velocities of 131I are greater than those of 106Ru and 137Cs. In addition, we calculated the generalized deposition velocities for each residential types. Iodine was the most deposited nuclide during initial deposition. However, the concentration of iodine in urban environment drastically decreases owing to its relatively shorter half-life than 106Ru and 137Cs. Furthermore, the amount of radioactive material deposited in nonresidential areas, especially in parks and schools, is more than that deposited in residential areas. Conclusion: In this study, the generalized urban deposition velocities and the subsequent deposition changes were estimated for the Korean urban environment. The 3D modeling was performed for each type of urban residential area, and the average deposition velocity was obtained and applied to a hypothetical accident. Based on the estimated deposition velocities, the decision- making systems can be improved for responding to radioactive contamination in urban areas. Furthermore, this study can be useful to predict the radiological dose in case of large-scale urban contamination and can support decision-making for long-term measurement after nuclear accident.