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UFD_BIOSPHERE

Specifies the Example Reference Biosphere (ERB) Model 1, which calculates annual dose to an individual drinking radioactive water from a well (IAEA 2003).

Under the SIMULATION block this process model is included by adding the UFD_BIOSPHERE block:

SIMULATION
  SIMULATION_TYPE SUBSURFACE
  PROCESS_MODELS
    UFD_BIOSPHERE <name_string>
    /
    SUBSURFACE_FLOW flow
      MODE GENERAL
    /
    SUBSURFACE_TRANSPORT transport
      MODE GIRT
    /
  /
END

where <name_string> gives a user-defined name for the process model.

Required Cards:

UFD_BIOSPHERE

Opens the UFD_BIOSPHERE block. Must have a matching END line.

ERB_1A/B block

ERB_1A or ERB_1B <name_string>

Opens the ERB Model block with either the ERB_1A model type or the ERB_1B model type. Any number of ERB Models blocks may be specified. ERB_1A is used for water that is extracted by a sink (well) in the simulation. ERB_1B is used to approximate dose from a hypothetical well not explicitly modeled.

ERB_1A block required cards:

REGION <string>

Specifies the REGION associated with the ERB_1A model, where <string> indicates the name of that region. This region must be associated with a SOURCE_SINK which is located at the screened portion of a pumping water well.

REGION well-45b
INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE <double> <unit_string>

Specifies the water consumption rate in units of volume/time that the typical person drinks out of the contaminated well.

INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE 3.4 L/day

Optional Cards:

INCLUDE_UNSUPPORTED_RADS

If this card is included, then the ERB_1A model will consider both supported and unsupported radionuclides in the calculation of dose. Unsupported radionuclides are those which are not explicitly modeled in the simulation (e.g. as a source term or in transport) due to short half-lives, but are considered in a dose calculation.

ERB_1B block required cards:

REGION <string>

Specifies the REGION associated with the ERB_1B model, where <string> indicates the name of that region. This region must NOT be associated with a SOURCE_SINK. Rather, the region is the location of a potential pumping water well, at the screened portion of the well.

REGION potential-well-22c
INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE <double> <unit_string>

Specifies the water consumption rate in units of volume/time that the typical person drinks out of the contaminated well.

INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE 2.1 L/day
DILUTION_FACTOR <double>

Specifies a unitless dilution factor that accounts for the dilution of radionuclides at the location of the potential well. The dilution factor is the user-estimated volumetric ratio of discharged well water to captured plume water. This number should be larger than or equal to 1. A value of 1 implies no dilution (e.g., discharged well water = captured plume water).

DILUTION_FACTOR 4.3d0

Optional Cards:

INCLUDE_UNSUPPORTED_RADS

If this card is included, then the ERB_1B model will consider both supported and unsupported radionuclides in the calculation of dose. Unsupported radionuclides are those which are not explicitly modeled in the simulation (e.g. as a source or in transport) due to short half-lives, but are considered in a dose calculation.

Examples of the ERB_1A/B blocks:

ERB_1A A_model1
  REGION well
  INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE 5.d0 L/day
  INCLUDE_UNSUPPORTED_RADS
/
ERB_1B B_model1
  REGION potential-well-22c
  DILUTION_FACTOR 2.d0
  INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE 2.d0 L/day
  INCLUDE_UNSUPPORTED_RADS
/
ERB_1B B_model2
  REGION potential-well-67f
  DILUTION_FACTOR 1.d0
  INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE 3.d0 L/day
/

SUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES block

SUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES

Opens the SUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES block which indicates which supported radionuclides are considered in the dose calculations. The following cards or sub-blocks are required:

RADIONUCLIDE <string>

Specifies a sub-block for each supported radionuclide, where <string> indicates the name of the supported radionuclide. The radionuclide must be included as either a primary or secondary species in the CHEMISTRY block.

RADIONUCLIDE Tc-99
...
/
ELEMENT_KD <double>

Specifies the elemental Kd value within the material where the screen portion of the well resides. The units can be given in L-water/kg-solid or kg-water/m3-bulk, as long as the units are consistent for all supported and unsupported radionuclides.

ELEMENT_KD 3.5d5
DECAY_RATE <double> <unit_string>

Specifies the decay rate of the supported radionuclide in units of [1/time].

DECAY_RATE 1.29d-13 1/sec
INGESTION_DOSE_COEF <double>

Specifies the ingestion dose coefficient for the supported radionuclide in units of Sv/Bq.

INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-9

Examples of a full SUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES block:

SUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES
  RADIONUCLIDE Ra-226
    ELEMENT_KD 3.5d5  # at screened part of well
    DECAY_RATE 1.4d-11 1/sec
    INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 2.8d-7 # Sv/Bq
  /
  RADIONUCLIDE Tc-99
    ELEMENT_KD 4.2d5  # at screened part of well
    DECAY_RATE 1.04d-12 1/sec
    INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.1d-7 # Sv/Bq
  /
/

UNSUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES block

The concentration [Bq/L] of an unsupported radionuclide in secular equilibrium with its supported parent is the product of the sorption enhancement factor of the unsupported radionuclide, the emanation factor of the unsupported radionuclide, and the concentration [Bq/L] of the supported parent.

UNSUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES

Opens the UNSUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES block which indicates which unsupported radionuclides are considered in the dose calculations. These are only included in the calculation for the ERB models that contain the card INCLUDE_UNSUPPORTED_RADS. The following cards or sub-blocks are required:

RADIONUCLIDE <string>

Specifies a sub-block for each unsupported radionuclide, where <string> indicates the name of the unsupported radionuclide. The radionuclide should NOT be included as either a primary or secondary species in the CHEMISTRY block because it is unsupported.

RADIONUCLIDE Bi-210
...
/
ELEMENT_KD <double>

Specifies the elemental Kd value within the material where the screen portion of the well resides. The units can be given in L-water/kg-solid or kg-water/m3-bulk, as long as the units are consistent for all supported and unsupported radionuclides. Kd is needed to calculate the sorption enhancement factor for each unsupported radionuclide. The sorption enhancement factor is the ratio of the retardation factor of the supported parent to that of the unsupported radionuclide.

ELEMENT_KD 6.5d5
DECAY_RATE <double> <unit_string>

Specifies the decay rate of the unsupported radionuclide in units of [1/time].

DECAY_RATE 8.9d-11 1/sec
INGESTION_DOSE_COEF <double>

Specifies the ingestion dose coefficient for the unsupported radionuclide in units of Sv/Bq.

INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-7
EMANATION_FACTOR <double>

Specifies the optional emanation factor in the dose calculation for an unsupported radionuclide. The default value is 1.0 if this keyword is omitted.

EMANATION_FACTOR 0.4
SUPPORTED_PARENT <string>

Indicates the name of the unsupported radionuclide’s supported parent radionuclide. The supported parent must be included as a supported radionuclide in the SUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES block.

SUPPORTED_PARENT Pb-210

Example of a full UNSUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES block:

UNSUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES
  RADIONUCLIDE descendant1
    ELEMENT_KD 3.5d5  # at screened part of well
    DECAY_RATE 1.d-14 1/sec
    SUPPORTED_PARENT tracerA
    INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-10 # Sv/Bq
    EMANATION_FACTOR 0.4d0
  /
  RADIONUCLIDE descendant2
    ELEMENT_KD 4.2d5  # at screened part of well
    DECAY_RATE 1.d-10 1/sec
    SUPPORTED_PARENT tracerA
    INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-9 # Sv/Bq
  /
  RADIONUCLIDE descendant3
    ELEMENT_KD 2.2d8  # at screened part of well
    DECAY_RATE 1.d-9 1/sec
    SUPPORTED_PARENT tracerB
    INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-8 # Sv/Bq
    EMANATION_FACTOR 0.4d0
  /
/

Output Control

At each time step, the process model will add dose calculations to an output file named *.bio. The output includes the total dose from all supported and unsupported* radionuclides, the annual dose from each radionuclide, as well as the annual dose from each supported radionuclide and its unsupported descendents. The average concentration of each radionuclide in the region associated with each ERB model is also reported.

OUTPUT_START_TIME <double> <unit_string>

If this card is included, the dose calculations will not be printed to the output.bio file until after this point in the simulation time. The default start time is 0.d0 seconds (e.g. starting at the first time step).

OUTPUT_START_TIME 5.d0 yr

Examples:

UFD_BIOSPHERE

  ERB_1A A_model1
    REGION well
    INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE 5.d0 L/day
    INCLUDE_UNSUPPORTED_RADS
  /
  ERB_1B B_model1
    REGION ERB1B_tester1
    DILUTION_FACTOR 1.d0
    INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE 2.d0 L/day
    INCLUDE_UNSUPPORTED_RADS
  /
  ERB_1B B_model2
    REGION ERB1B_tester2
    DILUTION_FACTOR 5.d0
    INDIVIDUAL_CONSUMPTION_RATE 3.d0 L/day
  /

  SUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES
    RADIONUCLIDE tracerA
      ELEMENT_KD 3.5d5  # screened part of well
      DECAY_RATE 1.29d-15 1/sec
      INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-10 # Sv/Bq
    /
    RADIONUCLIDE tracerB
      ELEMENT_KD 4.2d5  # screened part of well
      DECAY_RATE 1.29d-15 1/sec
      INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-9 # Sv/Bq
    /
  /

  UNSUPPORTED_RADIONUCLIDES
  RADIONUCLIDE descendant1
    ELEMENT_KD 3.5d5  # at screened part of well
    DECAY_RATE 1.d-14 1/sec
    SUPPORTED_PARENT tracerA
    INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-10 # Sv/Bq
    EMANATION_FACTOR 0.4d0
  /
  RADIONUCLIDE descendant2
    ELEMENT_KD 4.2d5  # at screened part of well
    DECAY_RATE 1.d-10 1/sec
    SUPPORTED_PARENT tracerA
    INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-9 # Sv/Bq
  /
  RADIONUCLIDE descendant3
    ELEMENT_KD 2.2d8  # at screened part of well
    DECAY_RATE 1.d-9 1/sec
    SUPPORTED_PARENT tracerB
    INGESTION_DOSE_COEF 1.d-8 # Sv/Bq
    EMANATION_FACTOR 0.4d0
  /
/

  OUTPUT_START_TIME 5.d0 yr

END