DEVELOPMENT OF MONTE CARLO METHODS FOR INVESTIGATING MIGRATION OF RADIONUCLIDES IN CONTAMINATED ENVIRONMENTS

This paper presents the results of an ongoing research and development project conducted by Russian institutions in Moscow and Snezhinsk, supported by the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC), in collaboration with the University of Oklahoma. The joint study focuses on developing and applying analytical tools to effectively characterize contaminant transport and assess risks associated with migration of radionuclides and heavy metals in the water column and sediments of large reservoirs or lakes. The analysis focuses on the development and evaluation of theoretical-computational models that describe the distribution of radioactive wastewater within a reservoir and characterize the associated radiation field as well as estimate doses received from radiation exposure. The analysis focuses on the development and evaluation of Monte Carlo-based, theoretical-computational methods that are applied to increase the precision of results and to reduce computing time for estimating the characteristics the radiation field emitted from the contaminated wastewater layer. The calculated migration of radionuclides is used to estimate distributions of radiation doses that could be received by an exposed population based on exposure to radionuclides from specified volumes of discrete aqueous sources. The calculated dose distributions can be used to support near-term and long-term decisions about priorities for environmental remediation and stewardship.