The Russian nuclear submarine K27 was damaged and intentionally sunk with its nuclear fuel aboard in Stepovogo Bay in 1981, a region of the Arctic very near to Norway. Since then, the Norwegians have been concerned because it theoretically could one day cause a criticality accident that would result in atmospheric transport of radioactive materials across Norway. To assess the threat, a team of Norwegian scientist modeled “worst case” scenarios, and assessed the potential radiological risk to Norwegians.
Read their paper: Atmospheric transport of radioactive debris to Norway in case of a hypothetical accident related to the recovery of the Russian submarine K-27. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 151 (2016) 404e416
Answer the following questions:
1. Describe the SNAP Model and what it does.
2. What is the effect of particle size on the SNAP Model?
3. What type of meteorological data are required to conduct the analysis?
4. How was the amount of radioactivity in the submarines reactors estimated?
5. What criterion were used to simulate a “worst case” scenario?
6. How did the worst case scenario compare with the radioactivity deposited on Norway by the Chernobyl accident?
7. What is your opinion about the usefulness of the SNAP Model estimating environmental consequences of a nuclear accident?
