NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SPRAY PONDS: NUMERICAL MODELING ASSESSMENT OF THEIR RADIATION IMPACT ON GROUNDWATERR

This paper presents a numerical modeling approach to assessing the impact of nuclear power plant (NPP) spray ponds on groundwater. It elaborates on a hydrogeological flow model developed based on site-specific subsurface monitoring data and records available on the studied area calibrated based on long-term observations over groundwater levels at the NPP site. The paper considers an aerosol-steam dispersion cloud containing tritium formed during spray pond operation as a source of radiation exposure. It elaborates on the shape of the modeled source of tritium releases into groundwater calculated via inverse modeling. Model data on radionuclide transport in geological environment showed that annual tritium mass flux into groundwater was approximately 292 GBq/year, which corresponded to about 4% of the total atmospheric releases from spray ponds. In 20—25 years, tritium dispersion plumes tend to stabilize as compared to their current state with maximum tritium concentrations in groundwater not exceeding 1800 Bq/L. The study concludes that spray ponds should be treated as sources of radiation impact on groundwater. It proposes some focus areas to improve the assessment approach, including its verification at other NPP sites and coupled modeling of atmospheric and subsurface flows.

Keywords: groundwater, NPP spray ponds, aerosol-steam cloud, tritium, hydrogeological flow modeling, radionuclide transport in geological environment, radiation safety, radioactive waste.

Petrov D. A., Kulyanova A. A., Konnov D. V. Nuclear Power Plant Spray Ponds: Numerical Modeling Assessment of their Radiation Impact on Groundwaterr. Radioactive Waste, 2026, no. 1 (34), pp. 79—87. DOI: 10.25283/2587-9707-2026-1-79-87. (In Russian).