A METHOD FOR CALCULATING THE CONSEQUENCES OF EXPLOSIVE RADIOLOGICAL RELEASES

Year
1991
Author(s)
B.J. Layman - Westinghouse Hanford Company
Abstract
Radiological releases resulting from detonations are a primary concern of analysts when they are dealing with radiological sabotage. Calculating the consequences of these explosive releases is an integral part of the risk assessment process. This paper presents a method for relating the consequences of a release to the resultant doses by using the appropriate radiological guidelines. The doses are calculated as the product of dose conversion factors and building source terms. The uses of relative activities and committed dose equivalent factors, organ weighting factors, and meteorological data for calculating the dose conversion factors are discussed. Material at risk, release fractions, respirable fractions, and leak path factors, which are used to compute the building source terms, are also addressed.