Effect of Atmospheric Forcing on Plume Dispersion and Study of Nuclear Effluent Trajectories for the Kalpakkam Coast, India

Abstract

AbstractThe air–sea interaction process and its implication at the outfall location of a nuclear power plant have been studied using the Princeton ocean model (POM) under varied environmental forcing parameters (momentum and heat fluxes). In the first set of numerical experiments, constant momentum flux is used with reversing wind speeds of 2 and 10 ms−1 respectively. It is observed that with an increase in wind speed, the plume exhibited a narrow directional spread unlike that for low winds. Incorporation of constant heat flux and momentum flux showed marginal difference in the computed sea surface temperature (SST) at the outfall location. In the second set of experiments, variable momentum and heat fluxes were introduced that led to significant variations in SST, salinity, and circulation patterns. A net variation of approximately 2–3°C in SST has been recorded at the outfall location. Finally, the POM and the particle-trajectory tracking model (PTTM) have been integrated to trace the nuclear effluent...