Download - Waste Treatment Plant Project
Waste Treatment Plant Project
Adapting Dispersion Software
to DOE Standard 3009
Jorge SchulzThomas R. McDonnellBechtel National, Inc.
2012 EFCOG Safety Analysis WorkshopMay 8, 2012
22
Overview This paper describes work performed for the WTP project to enable use of
MACCS2 version 2.5 to generate 95th percentile overall site atmospheric dispersion factors (χ/Q) in accordance with the statistical treatment required by DOE-STD-3009-94
– The maximum sector 99.5th percentile χ/Q was also determined by post-processing Appendix A, section A.3.3, of STD-3009 states that the 95th percentile χ/Q should:
– Account for variations in distance to the site boundary as a function of direction– Be consistent with the statistical treatment of χ/Q values described in regulatory
position 3 of NRC Regulatory Guide 1.145 for the evaluation of consequences along the exclusion area boundary
– Determine the distance to the site boundary in accordance with the procedure outlined in position 1.2 of Regulatory Guide 1.145
MACCS2 determines directionally independent χ/Qs at a specific distance; thus, there is no way of obtaining the direction-dependent 95th percentile χ/Q without post-processing
3
Site Boundary Distance Regulatory Guide 1.145, position 1.2,
states:– “For each of the 16 sectors, the
distance for . . .X/Q calculation should be . . . the nearest point on the building to the exclusion area boundary within a 45-degree sector centered on the compass direction of interest.”
WTP has several large processing buildings that are clustered together on the site
– The site boundary distances were determined from the building cluster perimeter to the closest points on the established public boundary at each compass sector
The site boundary distances range from 9.1 to 13.9 km
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44
Combined Effects of Site Boundary Distance and Prevailing Wind Direction
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%0
1020
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150160
170180
190200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
320
330340
350
Although the SSW, SW boundary distance is the closest, prevailing winds are from the WSW
MACCS2 does not take actual site distances into account
MACCS2 “boundary”
5
Meteorological Data Collection and Processing Previous meteorological data were
1-hour averages rounded to the nearest mph (~0.5 m/s), resulting in discrete steps when plotted as a cumulative distribution (red curve)
Subsequently, ten years of 15-minute average met data were obtained and processed
– The CCDF curve is significantly smoother (blue curve)
– The processed 15-minute average data can be used for events involving short term accident release
– This processed data was also used to generate hourly averages, which were then converted into the format used by MACCS2
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0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1.E-08 1.E-07 1.E-06 1.E-05 1.E-04
0.1 m/s 0.5 m/s
90%
91%
92%
93%
94%
95%
96%
97%
98%
99%
100%
1.E-05 1.E-04
0.1 m/s 0.5 m/s
66
Software Validation Original V&V of MACCS2 was performed before the WTP project had
fully implemented DOE-STD-3009-94 Subsequently, it was determined that the 95th percentile χ/Qs produced
by MACCS2 did not meet STD-3009 requirements– Required post-processing of MACCS2 expanded output to reflect actual site
boundary distances and to be directional– Necessitated also V&Ving the calculation of individual hourly sequence
χ/Qs that MACCS2 generates in the process of determining its 95th percentile values
A spreadsheet-based approach (using Microsoft® Excel®) was developed and validated for calculating atmospheric dispersion factors based on the methodology given in NRC Regulatory Guide 1.145– Basis for confirming that the 95th percentile χ/Q results produced by MACCS2
ATMOS module meet the requirements for V&V in accordance with DOE Quality Assurance Order DOE O 414.1C and Safety Software Guide DOE G 414.1-4
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MACCS2 Runs MACCS2 expanded outputs were obtained using 10 years of site
meteorological data and each spatial interval– Expanded output consists of individual χ/Q sequences for each hour– Each χ/Q sequence tracks the plume as it travels downwind from the release
location – Spatial intervals cover intermediate distances and each unique site boundary
distance Undepleted and depleted individual sequence χ/Qs were determined for
both ground-level and elevated releases Dispersion Coefficients
– The MACCS2 Gaussian model uses spatially-dependent dispersion parameters, σy and σz
– For WTP, σy and σz values are input to MACCS2 as lookup tables using the Briggs Open Country parameterizations
For ground-level releases, χ/Qs are calculated both with and without plume meander
7
8
Post-Processing of MACCS2 Expanded Output The MACCS2 expanded outputs described in the previous
slide were post-processed in an Excel spreadsheet– MACCS2 χ/Qs were imported into Excel worksheets and sorted by
clockwise meteorological sector For each sector, the site boundary distance was entered and
the 99.5th percentile χ/Qs were determined The overall 95th percentile χ/Q was determined by using the
Excel function PERCENTILE on an array of hourly χ/Qs for each sector
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99
Comparison of MACCS2 Results to Post-Processed χ/Q Results The post-processed, 95th percentile directionally-dependent, undepleted
and depleted overall site boundary χ/Qs are compared below to those determined using the MACCS2 directionally-independent methodology– The post-processed χ/Qs ranged from 13 to 21% lower than those obtained
by the MACCS2 method
0.0E+0
5.0E-6
1.0E-5
1.5E-5
2.0E-5
Ground LevelNo Wake
No Meander
Ground LevelNo WakeMeander
Ground LevelWake
No Meander
Ground LevelWake
Meander
Elevated
Unde
plet
ed χ/
Q (s
m∙-3
)
MACCS2 MethodDOE-STD-3009 Method
0.0E+0
5.0E-6
1.0E-5
1.5E-5
2.0E-5
Ground LevelNo Wake
No Meander
Ground LevelNo WakeMeander
Ground LevelWake
No Meander
Ground LevelWake
Meander
Elevated
Depl
eted
χ/Q
(sm∙
-3)
MACCS2 MethodDOE-STD-3009 Method
1010
Identified MACCS2 Software Errors In the course of this effort, two software errors were
discovered in MACCS2, which are described in the following slides– The first error was in the treatment of dispersion coefficients from a
lookup table (freezing of σy values)
– The second involved the method of accounting for plume meander using the Regulatory Guide 1.145 model implementation
An evaluation of these errors determined that they either produce conservative results or have no significant impact on existing WTP accident analyses
11
σy Freezing Error – Background An intermediate step in the MACCS2
computation process is determination of lateral and vertical dispersion coefficients (σy and σz)
– MACCS2 calculates the dispersion coefficients for each user-defined distance interval for all meteorological sequences
MACCS2 tracks the plume travel downwind over time; thus, depending on the wind speed, meteorological conditions can change at some downwind distance interval
– In those cases, MACCS2 calculates a virtual distance that would provide the same dispersion coefficients at the transition point for the current stability class
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In this example, the plume expands in the first hour based on the stability class and wind speed of that hour. In the next hour, the stability class changes to a more stable condition, and the wind speed decreases to one half of the initial wind speed; therefore, the plume expands more slowly and takes longer to travel a similar distance.
Virtual Source Release Point
Wind Speed = U Wind Speed = 0.5 U
Hour 1
x1 x2
Hour 2
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σy Freezing Error Description If the virtual distance exceeds the dispersion
coefficient look-up table (e.g., for stable atmospheric conditions), the last σz is used until the meteorology changes again
Typically, the σz limit is reached, while the σy is not
– i.e., the plume does not expand in the vertical direction, but can continue to expand in the horizontal direction
However, once the value of σz reaches its limit, two distance intervals later MACCS2 v. 2.5 also freezes the value of σy
– This should not occur because the limit of the σy look-up table is not reached
– χ/Q values are also frozen
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DISTANCE GL X/Q PLSIGY PLSIGZ1 8.00E+01 1.85E-02 1.44E+01 2.39E+00
… … … … …22 1.13E+04 6.64E-06 5.17E+02 7.72E+0123 1.18E+04 6.43E-06 5.30E+02 7.79E+0124 1.22E+04 6.23E-06 5.42E+02 7.85E+0125 1.25E+04 7.08E-06 5.48E+02 7.85E+0126 1.28E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+0127 1.30E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+0128 1.33E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+0129 1.36E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+0130 1.38E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+0131 1.39E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+0132 1.40E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+0133 1.45E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+0134 1.50E+04 9.16E-06 5.53E+02 7.85E+01
MACCS2 Expanded Output Extract
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Effect of σy Freezing Error Freezing σy rather than allowing it to grow with distance, results in a
sequence χ/Q that is higher than it should be, which is conservative– For WTP meteorology, the error typically occurs in about 4% to 8% of the
sequences The reduction in a sequence χ/Q after correction would be no more than
about 10-20% Therefore, for a sequence to have an impact on the 95th percentile χ/Q,
the uncorrected χ/Q value would have to be about 1 to 20% higher than the 95th percentile χ/Q
Initial assessment determined the number of sequences affected out of 10 years of hourly sequences (87,600 sequences)– 5.3% of 87,600 sequences were affected by the error– Further analysis was required
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Impact Assessment of σy Freezing Error Next, 175 randomly-selected sequences
were reviewed to determine the impact– If freezing of σy occurred after the site
boundary distance, the sequence had no impact
– If freezing of σy occurred before the site boundary distance, the σy and χ/Q values were recalculated correctly for each distance following where the freezing occurred
– The new χ/Q values were reviewed to determine if the changed χ/Q would shift below the overall 95th percentile χ/Q
Only sequences where the uncorrected value exceeds the 95th percentile and the corrected value is less than the 95th percentile can cause the corrected 95th percentile to shift
98 sequences occurred before the site boundary distance, requiring further analysis
– The adjusted χ/Q values for the 98 sequences were, on the average, about 11% lower than the unadjusted χ/Q values
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Results– Only one sequence resulted in shifting from
above the 95th percentile χ/Q to below (about 0.6% of the total sample)
– Four sequences resulted in shifting from above the 99.5th percentile χ/Q to below, but none shifted the maximum sector 99.5th percentile χ/Q
90%
95%
100%
1.E-05
Perc
entil
e
χ/Q (s∙m-3)
UncorrectedCorrected
(Conceptual shift of 95th %ile χ/Q)
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Meander Correction Factor Error MACCS2 has an option to use the
Regulatory Guide 1.145 plume meander model, which multiplies σy by a correction factor that depends on stability class and wind speed
– For wind speeds between 2 and 6 m∙s-1, the correction factor decreases as a straight line in a log-log scale from the maximum value (for stability classes D - F) to 1
However, MACCS2 v. 2.5 incorrectly uses a linear interpolation
– This can over-estimate the meander correction factor by up to 1.5 times
– Because χ/Q is inversely proportional to the dispersion coefficient, this error produces non-conservative individual sequence χ/Qs
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1
10
1 10
Mea
nder
Corr
ectio
n Fa
ctor
, M
Wind Speed (m/s)
D
E
F
D
E
F
RG 1.145 MACCS2 v.2.5
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Assessment of Meander Correction Factor Interpolation Error A sample of 100 χ/Q sequences for a typical year was investigated
– Chosen randomly by the starting day and hour– 39% of the calculated site boundary sequence χ/Qs were affected by this error
Of these, the maximum discrepancy was 0.05% to 5.5% non-conservative The site-wide 95th percentile χ/Q is 1.52 × 10-5 s∙m-3
– The maximum site boundary χ/Q value for these affected sequences is 8.85 × 10-6 s∙m-3
– The site-wide 95th percentile χ/Q is a factor of 1.7 higher than the maximum χ/Q value for the affected sequences
This means that none of the affected sequences could affect the 95th percentile χ/Q because they are all more than the maximum deviation of 5.5% below the 95th percentile value
– This is expected because, typically, the wind speed that produces the 95 th percentile χ/Q is less than 2 m∙s-1
– For these wind speeds, MACCS2 v. 2.5 correctly implements the Regulatory Guide 1.145 meander model (no interpolation required)
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Conclusions If MACCS2 is used to determine atmospheric dispersion factors at the
public boundary, in order to meet DOE-STD-3009-94, post-processing of the MACCS expanded output sequence χ/Qs is required– to account for variations in distance to the site boundary as a function of
direction and– to be consistent with the statistical treatment of χ/Q values of position 3 of
NRC Regulatory Guide 1.145 The current version 2.5 of MACCS2 has two software errors that affect
the horizontal dispersion coefficient– For WTP, the net impact of these errors was determined to be essentially
negligible– Other sites may need to perform similar evaluations
17
The work described in this paper was performed for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under contract DE-AC27-01RV14136, to support the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Project.