Radioactive Waste Disposal Into Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Waters; a Report From a Working Group of the Committee on Oceanography of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (1959) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Transport and Dispersion
Transport and Dispersion
Pages 16-41
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From page 16... ...
TRANSPORT AND DISPERSION The movement of a contaminant from the disposal area and its dilution with sea water will be controlled by circulation in and adjacent to the disposal site and the natural turbulent mixing processes in the sea. Obviously, the bottom water circulation in the immediate area of the disposal site will control the initial movements of the soluble and finely divided waste as it diffuses from the ruptured canister.
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From page 17... ...
How far inshore from the lightships this intrusion occurs we do not know. The observations also suggest a downwelling during the coldest parts of the winter when waters next to the coast chill to low temperatures, and subsequent offshore movement when resulting densities reach below those of the adjacent offshore waters.
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From page 18... ...
Note also the high percentage of returns from bottles dropped from Georgia southward. Diffusion Processes In addition to the gross transportation of contaminants by permanent and semi-permanent ocean currents, the mechanism by which a contaminant will move from the bottom if current velocities are zero at the water-bottom interface is obviously important.
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From page 20... ...
Considering a bottom disposal area of dimension L x L, over which the water depth is D, with a uniform current of speed U parallel to the coast, and a diffusivity coefficient K, the maximum concentration of contaminant Cm along the axis of the current at distance x from the source, (when x is large compared with L) for a rate of supply Q, is given by: (D n The maximum concentration at various distances as evaluated from equation (1)
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From page 21... ...
This case is analogous to the sudden rupturing of a cubical canister on the bottom under the assumption that all of the contaminant is then free. Assuming no current to aid in dispersal, the reduction in concentration at the canister due to diffusion processes is given by: (2)
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From page 22... ...
(K=lcm2/sec, V*
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From page 23... ...
as a function of distance from the site is shown for three cases in figure 4. Curve 1 assumes infinite depth of water, curve 2 assumes that the ratio of water depth to canister size is 100, and curve 3 assumes infinite depth and that all of the waste is not immediately available but diffuses from the ruptured canister at a uniform rate under the conditions that the diffusion coefficient through the ruptured canister is 10"" that of the diffusivity in the water.
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From page 24... ...
All of these factors are nearly impossible to evaluate quantitatively for conditions likely to be found in nature. Although impossible to evaluate quantitatively, it seems certain that sorption processes will play a major role in controlling the dispersal of radioactive wastes once they are free of the canister.
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From page 25... ...
Our recommendation of a complete survey of a proposed inshore disposal area prior to the start of disposal operation will help preclude the development of such a hazard. Because we are unable to make a quantitative estimate of the magnitude of uptake on suspended and deposited solids, we have neglected this factor in our evaluation of the quantities of wastes likely to be found in the water and in marine food products for various rates of disposal of radioactive wastes.
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From page 26... ...
We have combined this information regarding the probable quantities of radionuclides in commercially landed fish with figures for maximum permissible concentrations in drinking water, to obtain the quantity of radionuclides that will be returned to man in marine food products, as follows: 1. The MPC values (3)
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From page 27... ...
3. Next, having the maximum permissible concentration of a nuclide in fish and the concentration factor achieved by fish for the nuclide we compute the maximum permissible concentration for the nuclide in sea water.
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From page 28... ...
From maximum weekly dose, and weekly ingestion rate of 1.5 kg of fish.
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From page 29... ...
The disposal of packaged radioactive wastes in areas through which submarine cables pass will be objectionable from two points of view. First, there is a possibility of damage to the cable should a disposal container fall directly on it during disposal operations.
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From page 30... ...
Thirdly, only a small fraction of the total volume of coastal waters will actually pass directly over a disposal area, although a much larger fraction of the total volume will be available for dilution. Most of these problems involve the averaging of concentrations that will be above and below permissible sea water concentrations for unknown lengths of time.
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From page 33... ...
Monitoring of a disposal area at intervals following the start of disposal operations will be essential to the safe and efficient use of an area. Monitoring procedures should include the collection of both bottom living organisms and bottom sediments, and analysis of each for radioactivity.
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From page 35... ...
38°30'N 72°06'W 7200-9000 ft. "Explosives Dumping Area" 10 x 10 miles square, 118 miles 098°T from Five Fathom Bank Lightship, Chart 1000.
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From page 36... ...
lOb 28°25'N 88°55'W 3600ft. "Explosives Dumping Area", 10 x 10 miles square, 36 miles from South Pass, Chart 1115.
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From page 37... ...
3. Maximum Permissible Amounts of Radioisotopes in the Human Body and Maximum Permissible Concentrations in Air and Water.
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From page 41... ...
Receiving funds from both public and private sources, by contributions, grant, or contract, the Academy and its Research Council thus work to stimulate research and its applications, to survey the broad possibilities of science, to promote effective utilization of the scientific and technical resources of the country, to serve the Government, and to further the general interests of science.
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