Aerial Research and Technology Support
Project: Aerial Research and Technology support
Client: British Nuclear Fuels Limited, Sellafield
The Challenge
Over the last decade WSC have been required to provide research and technology support to BNFL/BNGSL to assist them in assessing the environmental fate and impact of authorised aerial discharges.
The Solution
We have provided many services under this contract, which has been awarded on an annual basis. Over the last three years this has
included:
- Configuration and validation of atmospheric dispersion models.
- Development of methodologies to assess fugitive emissions of radionuclides on complex industrial site.
- Development of Environmental Assessment Software and provision of training and consultancy support
- Physical wind tunnel modelling of dispersion from significant release points
- Assessment of the uncertainty in the predictions of atmospheric dispersion models.
- Conducting detailed reviews of the scientific literature to evaluate best practices for environmental monitoring and research conducted for radiological assessments.
The Benefits
Much of the research has been driven by regulatory requirements, and as a consequence the client has been able to demonstrate their commitment to assessing the impacts of their discharges to the regulators. This is particularly important as many of the research themes directly addressed requirements set out as part of the site discharge authorisation.
Key publications:
Hill R., Taylor T.J., Lowles I., Emmerson K. and Parker T. (2005) A new model validation database for the evaluating AERMOD, NRPB R91 and ADMS using Krypton-85 data from BNFL Sellafield. International Journal of Environment and
Pollution 24 (1/2/3/4): 75 - 87.
Taylor T. J., Hill R. A., Lowles I. M., Parker T. and Stevens A. (2004) The evaluationand characterization of fugitive emissions from a large industrial site. In: Proceedings of the 13th World Clean Air Congress August 22-27 2004, London.