This report documents the atmospheric dispersion used in the Area G Performance Assessment for off-site airborne dose calculations. Potential airborne contaminants from the mesa top disposal facility disperse in the complex terrain dominated by narrow mesas in parallel to narrow canyons. The dispersion is characterized by site-specific values of X/Q [(Ci/m{sup 3})/(Ci/s)] at each of two designated receptor locations, a {open_quote}maximum off-site dose{close_quote} location and a nearby population center (White Rock, NM). The values of X/Q in each of the sixteen wind sectors are first estimated with the CAP-88 computer code using 1992 annual meteorologic data from Area G and …
continued below
Publisher Info:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
Place of Publication:
New Mexico
Provided By
UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Serving as both a federal and a state depository library, the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department maintains millions of items in a variety of formats. The department is a member of the FDLP Content Partnerships Program and an Affiliated Archive of the National Archives.
Descriptive information to help identify this report.
Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.
Description
This report documents the atmospheric dispersion used in the Area G Performance Assessment for off-site airborne dose calculations. Potential airborne contaminants from the mesa top disposal facility disperse in the complex terrain dominated by narrow mesas in parallel to narrow canyons. The dispersion is characterized by site-specific values of X/Q [(Ci/m{sup 3})/(Ci/s)] at each of two designated receptor locations, a {open_quote}maximum off-site dose{close_quote} location and a nearby population center (White Rock, NM). The values of X/Q in each of the sixteen wind sectors are first estimated with the CAP-88 computer code using 1992 annual meteorologic data from Area G and assuming an area source for release. This data captures the dominant wind direction on the mesa tops from the SSW. These dispersion parameters are assumed to apply to open, flat terrain and must be corrected for the complex mesa and canyon terrain terrain surrounding the Area G site. Additional meteorologic data has been collected over two years from six remote temporary meteorological stations operated on the mesas and in the canyons immediately around Area G. These data indicate that the wind flow in the canyons is exclusively bimodel, flowing up canyon during the day and down canyon at night. It is conservatively assumed that all ground level releases from Area G which blow out across an adjacent canyon become entrained in the canyon flow. This effectively combines the contaminant release for several sectors into a single canyon flow which is upstream during the day or downstream at night. This canyon channeling mechanism is implemented in the model by summing the wind sector dispersion factors over those sectors appropriate to the geometry for a release from Area G toward either adjacent canyon.
This report is part of the following collection of related materials.
Office of Scientific & Technical Information Technical Reports
Reports, articles and other documents harvested from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) is the Department of Energy (DOE) office that collects, preserves, and disseminates DOE-sponsored research and development (R&D) results that are the outcomes of R&D projects or other funded activities at DOE labs and facilities nationwide and grantees at universities and other institutions.