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3 - Diffusion in the Atmosphere

from Part I - Transport of Radioactive Materials in the Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2019

Edited by
Teruyuki Nakajima ,
Toshimasa Ohara ,
Mitsuo Uematsu  and
Yuichi Onda
Teruyuki Nakajima
Affiliation:
University of Tokyo
Toshimasa Ohara
Affiliation:
National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
Mitsuo Uematsu
Affiliation:
University of Tokyo
Yuichi Onda
Affiliation:
University of Tsukuba, Japan
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Summary

In nuclear power plant accidents, enormous amounts of radioactive substances are released over a relatively short period of time (several hours to days). The direction and range over which the substances are dispersed and the amount deposited on the ground surface are influenced not only by the amount that is released but also by meteorological conditions at the time of and immediately following an accident. The most important meteorological factors include wind direction, wind speed and precipitation. Whereas wind direction and speed directly affect the atmospheric transport of radioactive substances, precipitation is the predominant factor that controls the removal of these substances from the atmosphere by wet deposition.

Type
Chapter
Information
Environmental Contamination from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
Dispersion, Monitoring, Mitigation and Lessons Learned
 , pp. 62 - 111
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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