Reducing the Consequences of Reactor Accidents with a Green Belt

Abstract

Considerable attention is being paid to reducing the consequences of low-probability accidents in nuclear power plants. A scheme based on the pollution absorption properties of trees is proposed to reduce early and continued mortalities among the general public due to an accident in a nuclear power plant. The consequences of a hypothetical case in which a large, cold, ground-level release of radionuclides into the atmosphere takes place have been analyzed in the absence and in the presence of a green belt (rows of trees). The results show that in the presence of a suitably designed green belt around a nuclear power plant, the consequences in terms of early and continued mortality as well as an interdiction area, involving relocation of population and supply of food stuff from an uncontaminated region, can be reduced by orders of magnitude. This could also help in substantially reducing the magnitude of emergency preparedness in the public domain.