Atmospheric discharge and dispersion of radionuclides during the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Part I: Source term estimation and local-scale atmospheric dispersion in early phase of the accident

The atmospheric release of I-131 and Cs-137 in the early phase of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP1) accident from March 12 to 14, 2011 was estimated by combining environmental data with atmospheric dispersion simulations under the assumption of a unit release rate (1 Bq h(-1)). For the simulation, WSPEEDI-II computer-based nuclear emergency response system was used. Major releases of I-131 (>10(15) Bq h(-1)) were estimated when air dose rates increased in FNPP1 during the afternoon on March 12 after the hydrogen explosion of Unit 1 and late at night on March 14. The high-concentration plumes discharged during these periods flowed to the northwest and south-southwest directions of FNPP1, respectively. These plumes caused a large amount of dry deposition on the ground surface along their routes. Overall, the spatial pattern of Cs-137 and the increases in the air dose rates observed at the monitoring posts around FNPP1 were reproduced by WSPEEDI-II using estimated release rates. The simulation indicated that air dose rates significantly increased in the south-southwest region of FNPP1 by dry deposition of the high-concentration plume discharged from the night of march 14 to the morning of March 15. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.