Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Radiation and Environmental Biophysics https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-018-0761-6 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Simulation of radionuclide atmospheric dispersion and dose assessment for inhabitants of Tehran province after a hypothetical accident of the Tehran Research Reactor R. Vali 1  · M. E. Adelikhah 1  · S. A. H. Feghhi 1  · O. Noorikalkhoran 1  · R. Ahangari 2 Received: 24 February 2018 / Accepted: 3 November 2018 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Radiological dose assessment is one of the main categories of safety assessment for nuclear reactors and facilities. The radiation risks to the public and to the environment that may arise from these facilities have to be assessed and, if necessary, controlled. The main objective of this paper is the assessment of radiation doses to residents of Tehran province after a hypo- thetical accident of the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) including the determination of any protective actions that might be needed for the beneft of people’s health. The concentration of radionuclides in air and deposited on the ground surface as a result of a hypothetical radionuclide release from the TRR, following a hypothetical accident scenario, have been calculated by the HYSPLIT computer code. Simulations were performed using selected source terms taken from the TRR Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR). Meteorological data of the Air Resources Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been used in these calculations. The simulation results indicate that maximum annual total efective dose equivalent values for the residents of the Tehran province are less than the protective action dose limits. Thus, it is concluded that during this hypothetical accident in the TRR, required safety due to public radiation is achieved and the residents of Tehran province are safe under a TRR accident condition. Keywords Radiological assessment · Atmospheric dispersion · Accidental release · Dose assessment · HYSPLIT · Tehran Research Reactor Introduction One of the basic principles of health physics and radiation protection related to nuclear reactors is the control of radio- active material released into the environment due to natural disasters like earthquakes or due to other reasons such as human errors or technical malfunctions. The atmosphere is one of the main reservoirs of radioactive materials from a nuclear reactor accident. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has published a review of principles and practical applications of atmospheric dispersion models in case radionuclides are released into the environment in IAEA-TECDOC-379 entitled “Atmospheric dispersion models for application in relation to radionuclide releases” (IAEA 1986). Nuclear installations give rise to radionuclide release, albeit in small quantities under controlled condi- tions, but they also have the potential to release large quanti- ties of radionuclides in the case of accidents (IAEA 1986). For these reasons, assessment of radiation doses and asso- ciated radiological risks for individuals and populations is required, in particular when the releases exceed the routine releases predicted at the design and licensing stage (IAEA 1986). Calculation of annual total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) received by the members of the public around a nuclear reactor site is very important as far as human health and safety are concerned. The objective of this study is the simulation of atmospheric dispersion and the calculation of the TEDE received by residents of Tehran and parts of its neighboring provinces, due to a hypothetical accident in Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). During an incident with an uncontrolled source of radiation, protection of the public * R. Ahangari rahangari@aeoi.org.ir 1 Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran 2 Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI), Tehran, Iran