Test of existing mathematical models for atmospheric resuspension of radionuclides

Atmospheric resuspension of radionuclides can be a secondary source of cont amination after a release has stopped, as well as a source of contamination for people and areas not exposed to the original release. A test scenario based on measurements collected after the Chernobyl accident was used to ev aluate existing mathematical models for contaminant resuspension from soil, to examine resuspension processes on both local and regional scales, and t o investigate the importance of seasonal variations of these processes. Mod el predictions from 15 participants were compared with measured air concent rations and resuspension factors to investigate and explain the discrepanci es both among model predictions and between model predictions and observati ons and thus to evaluate the predictive capabilities and drawbacks of commo nly used generic resuspension models. The empirical models tested can give predictions within an order of magnitude of observations or better if adequ ately calibrated for site-specific conditions, but they do not describe the process-level events or account for spatial heterogeneity or temporal vari ations. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.