Analysis of Exposure Pathways and the Relative Importance of Radionuclides to Radiation Exposure in the Case of a Severe Accident of a Nuclear Power Plant
In the case of a severe accident of a nuclear power plant, the whole body dose and the relative importance of the radionuclides during the lifetime of an exposed person were estimated for each exposure pathway with distances from the release point. The external exposure pathways due to immersion of radioactive cloud and deposition of radioactive materials on the ground, and the internal exposure pathways due to inhalation and ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs were considered. The effects due to the ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs were estimated considering the variation of radioactive concentration in the foodstuffs according to deposition time and elapsed time after deposition using a dynamic ingestion pathway model applicable to Korean environment, named 'KORFOOD'. As the results up to 80 km from the release point, the effects due to ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs showed the highest contribution to total exposure dose. The contribution of I isotopes was the highest in the case of the external dose due to immersion of radioactive cloud and internal dose due to inhalation. The contribution of Cs isotopes was highest in the case of the external dose due to deposition of radioactive materials on the ground. In the case of the internal dose due to ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs, Cs deposition in summer and Sr deposition in winter, respectively, were the most dominant radionuclide to whole body.