Assessment of the radiological impact of a melting furnace explosion in a radioactive waste treatment facility on the multi-unit nuclear power plant site

This study aims to evaluate the radiological exposure impact on external workers at adjacent operating nuclear power plants in the event of a melting furnace explosion accident in a radioactive waste treatment facility located within a multi-unit nuclear power plant site. To achieve this, meteorological data from the Kori nuclear power plant over a four-year period from 2020 to 2023 was utilized. The PAVAN program was used to derive atmospheric dispersion factors from the time of accident occurrence up to two hours post-accident. Based on the maximum atmospheric dispersion factor for gaseous radioactive materials released due to the accident, the radiological impact on adjacent areas was evaluated. The results for selected radionuclides at Kori Units 2, 3, 4, Shin-Kori Units 1, 2, and the main gate of Kori power plant, all adjacent to the waste treatment facility, indicate that if there are external workers (such as maintenance and security personnel) at nearby nuclear power plants, their exposure doses would be below the annual radiation dose limit of 1 mSv for the general public.