South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 235–243

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South Arican Journal o Chemical Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sajce

Estimation o public exposure during normal operation o unit-1 Barakah

Nuclear Power Plant using GALE and HOTSPOT
Muhammad Zubair a, b, *, Eslam Ahmed b, Donny Hartanto a, b, c
a
Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, University of Sharjah, P.O. BOX 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
b
Nuclear Energy System Simulation and Safety Research Group, Research Institute for Sciences and Engineering, University of Sharjah, P.O. BOX 27272, Sharjah, United
Arab Emirates
c
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, United States of America.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In August 2020, the rst Barakah Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) unit was connected to the grid and started
BNPP supplying electricity. The BNPP site consists o 4 pressurized water reactor units, and each unit generates
Radiological dispersion electricity up to 1400 MWe power. Concerning saety, the radiological assessment o the radioactive release and
Public exposure
the corresponding public exposure during normal operation is essential. In the present work, the radioactive
GALE
HOTSPOT
release during normal operation, in gaseous orm, is calculated considering the operating condition o the BNPP
by using the GALE code or gaseous orms. Then, the HOTSPOT code is used to simulate the radiological
dispersion, including the public exposure and Total Eective Dose Equivalent (TEDE). HOTSPOT code uses the
Gaussian dispersion model to provide near-surace releases, short-range dispersion, and short-term releases.
Finally, the results in the present work are compared with the values given in the Final Saety Analysis Report o
the BNPP. For typical operating circumstances, this study evaluated gaseous source terms such as iodine, noble
gases, radioactive particles, tritium, C-14, and Ar-41 and ound that TEDE values are within the authorized limits
or distances up to 80 kms rom the power plant.

1. Introduction and literature review
During NPP operation, many various kinds o radioactive products
known as "source term" are produced and contained within uel pin.
Amongst them, the gaseous FPs (ssion products) such as Iodine-131
will easily release rom the uel pins when uel cladding ruptures.
Thereore, gaseous FPs release should be avoided during NPP (nuclear
power plant) operation by careully implementing multiple barriers in
the NPP through deence-in-depth measures. Furthermore, when a se-
vere accident extends to containment ailure, which leads to an exten-
sive FPs gas release rom the NPP, all people surrounding the NPP should
be evacuated immediately. Due to the high risk o nuclear radiation on
the population within and outside the nuclear reactor site, the released
ssion products should be requently examined under the worst-case
scenario and normal operating conditions. The most crucial ssion
products rom NPP are noble gasses, especially iodinated compounds
such as I131 and I133. These iodinated compounds have a comparatively
very high release percentage ratio, and 30% o them can be absorbed by
the thyroid (ICRP, 1998). In addition, Cs134 and Cs137 are also released
in many, producing cancers in the sot tissues. Moreover, other radio-
active ssion products are also produced during normal operation. They
are absorbed by the air and dispersed in the environment as particulate
particles through the ventilation waste path. Thereore it is vital to
assess the eective public dose ollowing the Standard Radiation Pro-
tection system. The dose is dened as the summation o a person’s
eective internal and external dose over a year. Similarly, a collective
dose is the summation o the eective dose over the entire exposed
populated area rom all possible gateways (holdup tanks and ventilation
paths) (Smith et al., 2002).
Previously, Sohrabi et al. (2013) assessed the public radiation
exposure o unit-1 Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP-1) using
PC-Cream 98 computer code. PC-Cream 98 code generally estimates the
hazardous radiological data under the standard Gaussian Plume
Dispersion model. According to the calculations by PC-Cream 98 codes,
the average highest dose or a person in the NPP site is 14 × 105mSv/y.
This dispersion is due to the aerosol particulates rom a stack under 600
m distance. The liquid efuents are 5 × 107mSv/y. This research
concluded that the radiological impact in the site region o BNPP-1 and

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mzubair@sharjah.ac.ae (M. Zubair).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajce.2022.06.013
Received 28 February 2022; Received in revised orm 13 June 2022; Accepted 30 June 2022
Available online 2 July 2022
1026-9185/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
M. Zubair et al. South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 235–243

Fig. 1. Main actors or atmospheric dispersion.

Fig. 3. Methodology or the estimation o radioactive release.

Fig. 2. Gaussian plume model rom a point source.

Fig. 4. Release rate o the iodine during normal operating condition.

the individual is reasonable compared with the values given by the Final
Saety Analysis Report (FSAR-2007) and BNPP-1 Environmental Report.
design basis accident. To calculate the doses under regular operation
Kong et al. (2017) evaluated the ssion products released in the
using CAP88 code, the surrounding vicinity o the reactor within a
Korean NPP and gave comprehensive detail about the eect o the
radius o 30 km was distributed on 12 concentric rings with 16 dierent
radioactive exposure on the general public within the site o NPP.
sectors. Meteorological data such as requency distribution, velocity,
Assessment has been determined as the dose ater releasing radioactive
and wind direction were also analysed and applied. The result showed
particles rom each reactor unit. KDOSE-60 was used to estimate public
that the Maximum Total Eective Dose Equivalent (TEDE) and
living areas and plant members o NPP. KDOSE-60 consists o a pack o
Committed Eective Dose Equivalent (CEDE) indexes were 5.05 × 107
three programs. GAS code is used or the radioactive particles rom gas
Sv or a person and 1.58 × 103 Sv or collective dose, respectively.
efuents, LIQ code is or liquid efuents, and XQDQWQ is or public and
Such results around the BNPP-1 site were lower than the eective dose
sta members around the NPP radial site. According to the assessment
limit. Furthermore, these results were also compared with the dose value
report, tritium was the primary radioactive particle playing an active
given on the Final Saety Report (FASR) o BNPP-1. It was revealed that
part in gaseous and liquid efuents. Furthermore, an average eective
the HOTSPOT code overestimates the results by a ew percent. The
dose to individual person around the radial site was about 103 to 102
dierence was due to the meteorological condition and using dierent
mSv. Thus, although Korean NPPs released some particulates into the
computer codes over the years.
upper atmosphere, the subsequent dosages were signicantly less than
Anvari and Saarzadeh (2012) assessed the TEDE radioactive release
standard saety proportions according to the regulatory saety limits.
during both accidental and normal conditions rom Tehran Nuclear
Pirouzmand et al. (2015) assessed the radioactive release rom
Research Reactor (TRR). The radioactive release has been calculated by
BNPP-1 by using CAP88-PC code under the normal ordinary condition o
ollowing hypothetical accident using the HOTSPOT code (Homann and
the NPP, and the HOTSPOT code was used or the assessment during the
Aluzzi, 2013). The assessment o the dispersed radioactive materials in

236
M. Zubair et al.
Fig. 5. Release rate o the noble gases during normal operating condition.
Fig. 6. Release rate o the particulate mixtures during normal oper-
ating condition.
the air under dierent parameters, e.g., wind velocity, requency dis-
tribution, and other environmental conditions, was evaluated. The
highest count o TEDE was 46 mSv at 0.3 km radial distance rom TRR,
which is less than the individual total annual eective dose limit (Bair,
1995).
Bashter et al. (2015) assessed radionuclides released during an
accidental condition rom North Coast Nuclear Power Plant located on
the Mediterranean Sea. HOTSPOT code was used as an assessment tool.
The simulated results illustrated that the highest radioactivity rom the
atmosphere at a distance o 200 m rom the reactor site was 1 × 104
mSv. At the same time, the concentration o the ssion products on the
ground was less than 1 × 105 kBq/m2. Further examination indicated
that although the concentration o Cs-137 and I-131 was minimal, they
played a vital role in contaminating the environment.
In this study, GALE-86 (Chandrasekaran et al., 1985) and HOTSPOT
(Homann and Aluzzi, 2013) codes were used as an assessment tool or
the radioactive released during the normal operating condition o BNPP
in the United Arab Emirates. BNPP is an APR1400 pressurized water
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South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 235–243
Fig. 7. Release rate o the tritium, C-14, and Ar-41 during normal oper-
ating condition.
Table 1
Fission product escape rate coecients (sec1).
Xe, Kr 6.5E-08
I, Br, Rb, Cs 1.3E-08
Mo 2.0E-09
Te 1.0E-09
Sr, Ba 1.0E-11
Y, Zr, Nb, Tc, Ru, La, Ce 1.6E-12
reactor designed by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) with
an electrical capacity o 1400 MW or 60 years o a lietime or each unit.
The GALE code can calculate the gaseous and fuid efuents rom the
pressurized and boiling water reactors using the plant characteristics.
Meanwhile, the HOTSPOT code estimates the radioactivity rom atmo-
spheric efuents under the normal and accidental conditions o NPP.
HOTSPOT code used the Atmospheric Dispersion Model (ADM) and
Gaussian Plum Model (GPM) to estimate uranium, plutonium, and
tritium compound release. In this study, Total Eective Dose Equivalent
parameters are calculated rom the HOTSPOT code.
APR1400 is a cutting-edge thermal energy plant developed by
improving the OPR1000, Korea’s major power plant model. It was
constructed rom December 1992 to December 2001 as part o the G-7
Project, which the government led. Innovation advancement was the
responsibility o KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation). The
APR1400 is a nuclear power station with a capacity increase o 1000MW
to 1400MW and a design lietime extension o 40 years to 60 years.
There are 241 uel assemblies in the core, each with a dierent amount
o U-235 enrichment. It has been assessed as having advantages that go
beyond the inventive levels o Generation III nuclear power plants
developed by advanced nuclear countries. It boasts the world’s best
security. The APR1400 standard plan included a strategy to respond to
quakes to meet all o the 0.3 g seismic requirements in bedrock and soil
conditions using the site envelope concept. Furthermore, the power to
adjust to external shocks such as re, food, and earthquake increased
above and beyond by oering the quadrant ormat strategy auxiliary
building. In August 2006, APR1400 was initially used in the construc-
tion o Shin-Kori Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4. Since then, a total o
six plants – Shin-Hanul Units 1 and 2, Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6, and Shin-
Hanul Units 3 and 4 have been built. It was originally implemented in
UAE BNPP Units 1–4, the rst export model o the Korean nuclear power
station, in 2009, and Unit 1 is now ully operational (Korea Electric
Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co.,
M. Zubair et al.
Fig. 8. Distribution or the TEDE rom BNPP or (a) iodine, (b) noble gases, (c) particulates, and (d) tritium and others.
Ltd. (KHNP), 2018; Zubair and Ishag, 2018).
2. Methodology
In case o an accident, the radiation released rom an NPP has a
signicant eect on the NPP’s public living. The consequences o these
radiations that belong to level 3 Probabilistic Saety Assessment (PSA)
(IAEA-TECDOC-1200, 2001) depend on the radiation composition,
strength, thermal energy, wind speed & direction, etc. To reduce the
harmul eects o these radiations, it is essential to predict the radiation
dose. Fig. 1 represents the important actors or atmospheric dispersion.
There are several models available or the simulation o the disper-
sion process. The most widely used models are listed below:
1 Gaussian model: this is the most commonly used model. It is
considered that waste products are distributed normally ollowing
the Gaussian distribution.
2 Lagrangian model: this model assumed the propagation o waste
products in a specic path.
3 Eulerian model: according to this model, waste products can be
modelled in a three-dimensional rame. Typically, plane and volume
sources can be modelled using the Eulerian model.
The Gaussian model is the most applicable compared with the other
models as it describes in detail the radioactive release in the environ-
ment rom nuclear power plants. The other models are useul or specic
paths like plane or volume suraces.
The Gaseous and Liquid Efuents (GALE) consists o our codes that
compute the gaseous and liquid efuent discharges rom Pressurized
Water Reactors (PWRs) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs). There are
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South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 235–243
our models in the GALE codes. Gaseous efuents rom pressurized
water reactors are calculated using PWRGE. PWRLE uses PWRs to
compute liquid efuents. Similarly or the BWRs. The Fortran-based
program calculates the source term o radionuclides created by a nu-
clear power station during normal operation using a mix o input data.
The HotSpot code was intended to provide emergency responders
and planners with a quick, eld-portable collection o sotware tools or
investigating radioactive material accidents. This code is also used to
conduct saety assessments o nuclear sites. PLUME, EXPLOSION, FIRE,
and RESUSPENSION are our main programs that calculate a downwind
evaluation ater a continuous or pu release o radioactive material, an
explosive release, a uel re, or an area contamination event. Additional
initiatives ocus on plutonium, uranium, and tritium emissions to speed
up the early evaluation o nuclear weapons accidents.
2.1. Gaussian plume model
This model is helpul or the assessment o radioactive release in the
environment rom nuclear power plants. Fig. 2 represents the Gaussian
plume model rom a point source by considering the wind speed towards
a downward direction.
The mathematical orm o this model is shown in Eq. (1).
[ ( )]
Q 1 y2 H2
χ (x, y) = exp  + 2 (1)
πσy σz μ 2 σ2y σz
χ (x, y) = ground level concentration (Bq/cubic metre)
Q = emission rate (Bq/sec)
x = downwind distance (m)
y = crosswind distance (m)
M. Zubair et al. South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 235–243

Fig. 9. Distances o the exposure rom BNPP or (a) iodine, (b) noble gases, (c) particulates, and (d) tritium and others.

Table 2
Results o TEDE (Sv/year) calculation using HOTSPOT code.
Radioactive Mixtures Distance (km)
0.3 0.6 1 2 6 10 20 40 80

Iodine 1.5E-7 7.2E-8 3.1E-8 9.1E-9 1.4E-9 6.2E-10 2.2E-10 8.1E-11 3.1E-11
Noble Gases 4.1E-6 1.9E-6 8.3E-7 2.4E-7 3.8E-8 1.7E-8 6.4E-9 2.6E-9 1.1E-9
Particulates 3.4E-9 1.6E-9 7.0E-10 2.1E-10 3.4E-11 1.6E-11 6.2E-12 2.7E-12 1.2E-12
Tritium and others 3.7E-6 2.1E-6 9.2E-7 2.7E-7 4.2E-8 1.9E-8 6.7E-9 2.4E-9 8.4E-10

σ y σz = horizontal and vertical standard deviation (m)  1.4  

μ = mean wind speed (m/s) ν ΔT
H=h+d 1+ (2)
H = eective chimney height (m) μ T

In Eq. (1), the eective chimney height (H) is the sum o actual h = actual chimney height (m)
chimney height (h) plus a actor o exit velocity and temperature, rep- d = chimney outlet diameter (m)
resented in Eq. (2). ν = exit velocity o gas (m/s)

239
M. Zubair et al. South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 235–243

Fig. 10. (a) TEDE results as o downwind distance or iodine. (b) TEDE results as o downwind distance or noble gases. (c) TEDE results as o downwind distance or
particulates. (d) TEDE results as o downwind distance or tritium and others.

240
M. Zubair et al. South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 235–243

Fig. 10. (continued).

241
M. Zubair et al.
Table 3
Atmospheric stability classes (A–F).
Categories Description Categories Description
A Extremely unstable D Neutral conditions
conditions
B Moderately unstable E Slightly stable conditions
conditions
C Slightly unstable F Moderately stable
conditions conditions
μ = mean wind speed (m/s)
ΔT= dierence between gas temperature with atmospheric
temperature
T = absolute temperature o the gas (K)
Fig. 3 represents, the methodology adopted in this research. The
radionuclides o iodine, noble gases, and the mixture o gases were
investigated by using GALE sotware. The HOTSPOT code has been
utilized to study the dispersion o these radionuclides in the gaseous
orm only. Later on, the Gaussian model has been used to estimate the
radioactive release.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Source term
The source term during the normal operating condition o BNPP was
calculated by using the GALE-86 code (Cember and Johnson, 2009). The
working condition and the plant data are used as the code input, and the
quantity o the radioactive materials during normal operations can be
estimated. In the normal operation, the radioactive materials exist in
both the primary coolant and the secondary system. The major sources
in the primary coolant include the ssion products leaking to the pri-
mary coolant and activated corrosion products. The radioactive in the
primary coolant is removed continuously in the coolant treatment sys-
tems, including the radioactive gases. The leakage o the primary cool-
ants through valves and pumps to the containment and the auxiliary
system contributes to the radioactive in the secondary system. In this
study, only the gaseous source terms were considered and they include
iodine, noble gases, radioactive particulates, tritium, C-14, and Ar-41, as
illustrated in Figs. 4–7. The noble gas, Kr-85, has the highest release rate,
about 4800 Ci/year, ollowed by Xe-131 m with a release rate o 2200
Ci/year.
The design basis source term is used or the design o the radioactive
waste management system and or determining design lietime inte-
grated doses or the design specications o plant equipment. The design
basis source term is based on design basis data used or calculating the
maximum reactor coolant activity as shown in Table 1.
The expected or operating basis source term is used or describing
annual releases rom the plant to the environment on an average basis.
Site boundary doses due to releases rom the plant ventilation exhausts,
liquid discharges, and osite shipment o solid radioactive material are
examples o calculations that use this source term. The expected source
term is based on a realistic model or reactor coolant activity during
normal operation as represented in Table 1 (APR1400 design control
document tier 2, 2018).
3.2. Total effective dose equivalent
To determine the public exposure during regular operation or BNPP
or long distances, HOTSPOT code has been used to measure the TEDE
or radionuclides in gaseous orm. The general plume o the total
eective dose has been measured amongst specic locations, which is in
our case BNPP (23.96725 N, 052.24065E), or our mixtures o the
radioactive sources, which are noble gases, iodine, particulates, tritium,
242
South African Journal of Chemical Engineering 41 (2022) 235–243
and others, with 30 m or the eective release height or those sources.
We used 5.74 m/s or the wind speed with 290◦ in the direction and 50 m
in size or the wind, and the sun was high in the sky or atmospheric
stability. As shown in Fig. 8, the TEDE distribution or the our mixtures
o the radioactive sources a) iodine, b) noble gases, c) particulates, and
d) tritium and other mixtures produced rom the nuclear power plant
amongst long distances, which we can determine rom it that the sources
with long hal lietime eect on longer distances than the other radio-
active sources, in Fig. 8 we can notice it in our case or the tritium and
others mixture that the eect or it reach 15 km and that is due to the
long hal lie time o the mixture. In Fig. 8 the red, green, and blue colors
are representing dierent distances rom NPP. In Fig. 8(a) and (c), the
red region is 0.5 Km, green is 2Km and Blue is 7.5 Km. For the Nobel
gases in Fig. 8(b), the red region is 1Km, green = 3Km, and blue= 13Km.
In Fig. 8(b) or tritium red region is 1Km, green = 3Km, and blue
=15Km.
Fig. 9 represents the distances o iodine, nobel gases, particulates and
tritium rom BNPP.
Calculated TEDE using HOTSPOT code is demonstrated in Table 2 or
dierent distances around the BNPP until 20 km. As Table 2 presents,
the highest dose obtained in this work is 4.1E-6 Sv/y or the Noble gases
mixture at 0.3 km away rom the power plant, which is below the annual
limits o the order o 10 microSieverts (μSv) or occupational exposure o
the public (FANR, 2021).
Fig. 10 shows the calculated results or the TEDE as a unction o
downwind distance or all atmospheric stability classes (A–F) or the
our mixtures o the radioactive sources a) iodine, b) noble gases, c)
particulates, and d) tritium and others mixtures produced rom the nu-
clear power plant.
The atmospheric stability classes (A–F) has been shown in Table 3.
4. Conclusion
Calculating the radioactive release public exposure during normal
operation in nuclear power plants is essential because there are saety
limits or the radioactive exposure that nuclear power plants should not
exceed to protect the public. There are several models to simulate the
dispersion o the radioactive releases, and in this study, the Gaussian
Plume Model has been used. The radioactive release or unit 1 o BNPP
was calculated in this study by using the GALE code. Then the HOTSPOT
code was used to show a clear demonstration or the annual TEDE that
the our dierent mixtures produced rom unit 1 o the BNPP or
dierent distances reach 80 km away rom the power plant. The TEDE
values are ound below the regulated limits. This study considered the
gaseous source terms, including iodine, noble gases, radioactive par-
ticulates, tritium, C-14, and Ar-41 or normal operating conditions.
Declaration of Competing Interest
There is no confict o interest in this research.
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by the Oce o Vice Chancellor or
Research & Graduate Studies, University o Sharjah, under grant no. V.
C.R.G. / R. 1325/2021.
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