Wall Materials Effects on Sheltered Indoor Doses From an SMR Hypothetical Accident Release

Abstract

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are expected as a suitable candidate to fulfill energy needs in the future. The regulation of the emergency planning zone (EPZ) has been a controversial issue. The possibility of smaller EPZs because of their small core size and passive safety functions has still under discussion. The major emergency responses to radiological incidents in the early phase are evacuation from the area and sheltering-in-place within a building. Comparison between the dose incurred during evacuation and that with sheltering-in-place is necessary to consider the proper protective actions. This study focuses on effect of wall materials on indoor doses for sheltered population from small modular reactor severe accident. The source term came from loss of coolant accident or station blackout, and the time change of air concentration and the ground deposition data was calculated with RASCAL, a software developed by NRC to provide dose projection around the plant. Then general one-story and two-story houses were set up, and 6 wall materials were selected for calculating indoor doses. Cloudshine and groundshine were calculated with Monte Carlo methods, and the shielding function of each house was evaluated by comparing the indoor dose with outdoor dose. The result will be a basis for calculating the radiological dose for sheltered cases in case of nuclear emergency for SMR, which will be valuable to have a more effective emergency planning.