Open AccessSimplified Groundwater Flow at Nuclear Power Plants
Author(s) -
Eric Yee,
Chanhoi Kim
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
current applied science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.14
H-Index - 3
ISSN - 2586-9396
DOI - 10.55003/cast.2022.02.22.008
Subject(s) - nuclear power plant , groundwater , nuclear power , groundwater flow , environmental science , excavation , radioactive waste , work (physics) , civil engineering , mining engineering , engineering , geotechnical engineering , aquifer , waste management , mechanical engineering , ecology , physics , nuclear physics , biology
As a result of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, significant amounts of radioactive materials have been introduced into the environment. Local and international organizations continue to monitor the situation and its effect on aquatic ecosystems as well as on human health. One of the many concerns after such an accident is the civil and construction work required to address such issues; however, multiple studies tend to consider nuclear power plant sites as being founded on soil when in reality such installations are founded on rock. Using real nuclear power plant structural geometries and field data, 2-D numerical simulations were conducted to estimate the amount of groundwater flow that could be expected. The results show the amount of groundwater flux to range from 0.07 to 46 m2/day, which from an engineering perspective is not that large. Because of this, maintenance and environmental safety workers could expect some groundwater intrusion when their excavations reach the rock boundary.