Development of a dynamic compartment model for the prediction of tritium behavior around NPPs

KAERI has developed a new model to find the relationship between the tritium release rate and tritium concentration in the environment. The model was based upon a dynamic compartment model. In this paper three kinds of global tritium cycling model were compared to estimate the natural background concentration of tritium in Korea. The dry and wet deposition rates were calculated using a computer program called DEPOS to derive a source term. The mechanisms considered for the transfer of tritium between the compartments were evaporation, groundwater flow, infiltration, runoff, and hydrodynamic dispersion. Also, transfer coefficients between the compartments were obtained using realistic geographical data. In order to illustrate the model various release scenarios were developed, and the change of tritium concentration in groundwater and surface water around the nuclear power plants was estimated. (author)