GETOUT, Radioactive Release and Decay Chain Calculation for Nuclear Waste Disposal

1 - Description of problem or function: GETOUT is a set of four FORTRAN programs and associated subroutines developed as an aid to investigate the migration of radionuclide chains from an underground source. The model to be analyzed is an underground nuclear waste disposal site and a uniform one-dimensional soil column that connects the site with a surface water body. At an arbitrary time after the waste is deposited, the radioactive material is released to an underground aquifer which flows at constant velocity directly through the soil column into the surface body. The program takes into account the compilations introduced by the radioactive decay of first-order chains to produce other species which have different absorption characteristics and, in turn, decay at different rates. 2 - Method of solution: GETOUT's programs ONE, TWO, and THREE solve analytical expressions describing the migration of single nuclides, and 2- and 3-member chains, respectively. Program FOUR solves more complex chains described by empirical combinations of simpler chains. The equations used were developed by Lester, Burkholder, Jansen, and Cloninger. Solutions are computed for impulse release without dispersion,impulse release with dispersion, band release without dispersion, and band release with dispersion. Time/inventory profiles are calculated. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Maxima of: 88 discharge profiles, 51 single chains, 26 two-member chains, 11 three-member chains