Abstract
Ilha Grande Bay is located in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The area is characterized by different land cover, complex topography and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. These aspects make it susceptible to thermally and dynamically induced atmospheric circulations such as those associated with valley/mountain and land/sea breeze systems, among others. The Almirante Álvaro Alberto Nuclear Complex (CNAAA) is located in this region, with a total of two nuclear power plants (NPPs) in operation in the Brazilian territory, Angra I and Angra II. Therefore, knowledge of local atmospheric circulation has become a matter of national and international security. Considering the importance of the meteorological security tool as a support for licensing, installation, routine operation and nuclear accident mitigation, the main aim of this study is the development of combined strategies of environmental statistical modeling in the analysis of thermally and dynamically driven atmospheric circulations over mountainous and coastal environments. We identified and hierarchized the influence of the thermally and mechanically driven forcing on the wind regime and stability conditions in the coastal atmospheric boundary layer over the complex topography region. A meteorological network of ground-based instruments was used along with physiographic information for the observational characterization of the atmospheric patterns in the spatial and time–frequency domain. The predominant wind directions and intensity are attributed to the combined action of multiscale weather systems, notably, the valley/mountain and continent/ocean breeze circulations, the forced channeling due to valley axis orientation, the influence of the synoptic scale systems and atmospheric thermal tide. The observational investigation of the combined influence of terrain effects and meteorological systems aimed to understand the local atmospheric circulation serves as support for safety protocols of the NPPs, contemplating operation and environmental management. The importance of the study for the adequacy and skill evaluation of computational modeling systems for atmospheric dispersion of pollutants such as radionuclide and conventional contaminants can be also highlighted, in order that such systems are used as tools for environmental planning and managing nuclear operations, particularly those located in regions over mountainous and coastal environments with a heterogeneous atmospheric boundary layer.
Highlights
Nuclear fission began to be adopted for civil purposes in 1953, with the “Atoms for Peace” program, and was seen, at that time and during the 1970s Oil Crisis, as a possible, nearly unlimited energy source [1,2].Currently, nuclear energy is used in 30 countries [3] and holds the potential to reduce dependence on fossil fuel-based energy sources and undesirable emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and precursor pollutants from photochemical oxidants and secondary aerosols, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and reducing harmful effects on human health [4,5,6,7,8,9]
The importance of this study for the adequacy and skill evaluation of computational modeling systems for atmospheric dispersion of pollutants as radionuclide and conventional contaminants are highlighted, as such systems are used as tools for environmental planning and managing nuclear operations, those located in regions over mountainous and coastal environments with a heterogeneous atmospheric boundary layer
Advances were made in the characterization of wind and stability regimes in the CNAAA region based on the application of statistical modeling combined strategies
Summary
Nuclear fission began to be adopted for civil purposes in 1953, with the “Atoms for Peace” program, and was seen, at that time and during the 1970s Oil Crisis, as a possible, nearly unlimited energy source [1,2].Currently, nuclear energy is used in 30 countries [3] and holds the potential to reduce dependence on fossil fuel-based energy sources and undesirable emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and precursor pollutants from photochemical oxidants and secondary aerosols, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and reducing harmful effects on human health [4,5,6,7,8,9]. As observed on Three Mile Island, USA (1979), Chernobyl, Ukraine (1986), and Fukushima, Japan (2011), alerted the international community about the need to establish safety protocols with greater rigor for the operation of nuclear installations and new plant licensing [16,17]. The impact of the 2011 Fukushima accident led to a reduction in the construction of new nuclear units and the restriction of the use of nuclear energy in the global energy matrix [17,18]. In Brazil, according to the National Energy Plan [19], an expansion had been planned that considered, in the most optimistic scenario, the construction of up to four new units in the country, in addition to the completion of Angra III at the Almirante Álvaro Alberto Nuclear Complex (CNAAA). After the Fukushima accident, the process was restricted to last only to the end of the construction of Angra III
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