Assessment, validation and intercomparison of operational models for predicting tritium migration from routine discharges of nuclear power plants: the case of Loire River
Résumé
During last decades, a number of projects have been launched to validate models for predicting the behaviour of radioactive substances in the environment. The project of the "Aquatic" working group of the project EMRAS (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety) organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was based on the validation and assessment of models for predicting the behaviour of radionuclides in the aquatic ecosystems. The present paper describes a blind test of models aimed at assessing the dispersion of tritium releases in the Loire River (France), on a large domain (∼350 km) and on a period of six months, by comparing the results obtained by operational-to-experimental values of tritium concentration at Angers, a city along the Loire River. The common conclusion is that the models used by the different participants namely 1D models and models based on a schematic hydraulic (box models) are reliable tools for tritium transport modelling. Nevertheless, the importance of proper and detailed hydrological data for the appropriate prediction of pollutant migration in water is demonstrated by the example provided during this study. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Mots clés
River propagation
Transport and dispersion
Tritium
tritium
assessment method
comparative study
concentration (composition)
dispersion
model test
model validation
nuclear power plant
pollutant transport
prediction
radionuclide migration
river water
aquatic environment
article
hydrology
mathematical model
reliability
statistical model
validation process
water pollutant
water pollution
France
Fresh Water
Industrial Waste
Models
Theoretical
Nuclear Power Plants
Water Pollutants
Radioactive
Angers
Eurasia
Europe
Maine et Loire
Pays de la Loire
Western Europe
Dispersions
Hydrology
Mathematical models
Rivers
Transport properties
Loire River