Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika

The peer-reviewed scientific and technology journal. ISSN: 0204-3327

Influence of Sea Breeze Circulation on Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion of Radioactive Emissions

12/10/2025 2025 - #04 Environmental aspects of nuclear power

Gulyaev D.Y.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2025.4.09

UDC: 551.556.4

The article presents the results of numerical modeling of pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere under conditions of sea breeze circulation. The goal is to assess influence of sea breeze circulation on the atmospheric transport and dispersion of radioactive releases. This assessment is essential to justify the inclusion of sea breeze effects in the computational algorithms of computer decision support systems designed for the analysis and forecasting of emergency events at nuclear power plants. The article provides detailed description of the mathematical model of sea breeze circulation used. The model is based on a system of thermohydrodynamic differential equations of the atmosphere with specific boundary conditions simulate the properties of sea breeze circulation. These properties include sea breeze generation due to the sea-land surface temperature difference and the time periodic nature of circulation related to the change of day and night. Special attention is given to the description of the input data set necessary for model initialization, the values of which are obtained from external meteorological and geoinformation data sources.The pollutant transport and dispersion is modeled with using the calculated wind field by the random walk method. Distributions of concentration are presented, both accounting for and without the sea breeze in the model. The results demonstrate sea breeze circulation to form the concentration distribution significantly different compared to the scenario without circulation. The main difference is that during the daytime, the sea breeze always moves pollutants inland, unlike the undisturbed wind. The provided assessment justifies the necessity of including elements that account for sea breeze effects in the meteorological processor of the DSS RECASS NT.

References

  1. Bukrinsky A.M. Safety of nuclear power plants according to federal norms and regulations of Russia and IAEA standards. Moscow, SEC NRS, 2007 (in Russian).
  2. Kosykh V.S., Borodin R.V., Korneichuk N.A. RECASS: information support system for decision-making in emergency situations at radiation and chemically hazardous objects. Problems of Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. Collection of articles. Volume III. RPA «Тyphoon», Obninsk, 2010, pp.24–35 (in Russian).
  3. Miller T.K., Keim B.D., Talbot R.W., Mao H. Sea breeze: structure, forecasting and impacts. Reviews of Geophysics. 2003;41:1–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2003RG000124
  4. RD 52.18.717–2009. Methodology for calculating the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere during emergency emissions. Obninsk, Print-Service Publ., 2009, 113 p. (in Russian)
  5. Pielke R.A. A three-dimensional numerical model of the sea breezes over south Florida. Monthly Weather Review. 1974;102:115–139. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1974)102 <0115:ATDNMO>2.0.CO;2
  6. Segal M., Pielke R.A., Mahrer Y. Evaluation of onshore pollutant recirculation over the Mediterranean coastal area of central Israel. Israel Journal of Earth-Sciences. 1982;31:39–46.
  7. Pielke R.A., McNider R.T., Segal M., Mahrer Y. The use of a mesoscale numerical model for evaluations of pollutant transport and diffusion in coastal regions and over irregular terrain. Bulletin of American Meteorological Society. 1983;64:243–249. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1983)064<0243:TUOAMN>2.0.CO;2
  8. Govett M., Rosinski J. Parallelization and Performance of the NIM Weather Model on CPU, GPU and MIC Processors. Bulletin of American Meteorological Society. 2017;98(10):1–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00278.1
  9. Kostrikov A.A., Novitsky M.A. Numerical modeling of pollutant dispersion from a point source under sea breeze circulation. Trudi IEM. 1986;37(120):25–38 (in Russian).

sea breeze circulation, atmospheric pollutant transport, meteorological processor

Link for citing the article: Gulyaev D.Y. Influence of Sea Breeze Circulation on Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion of Radioactive Emissions. Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika. 2025, no. 4, pp. 127-137; DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2025.4.09 (in Russian).