A tool has been developed to assist investigators in exploring common problems found in radionuclide transport work. This tool consists of an integrated series of programs known as the Simplified Codes for Performance Evaluation (SCOPE) system. The heart of the system is a set of programs which make use of analytical solutions to the onedimensional solute transport for up to three-member decay chains. Longer chains are approximated by combining the results of the one-, two-, and three-member chain solutions with the effects of short lived members.
SCOPE also provides programs that allow the user to evaluate the results by integrated radionuclide releases or by dose-to-man. In the first case, the integrated release passing through the boundary of an aquifer over time is compared to a given set of criteria. The criteria normally used are those developed by EPA (Radiation Protection Program 1982) [1] for estimating hazard. To provide the user with the option of calculating dose-to-man, two existing programs (ALLDOS and PABLM) were integrated into the system.
The system is not intended to solve all classes of radionuclide transport problems. However, it can provide the user with a good “first cut” understanding of many geohydrologic systems by allowing the problem to be looked at first as one-dimensional flow in a homogeneous geology.