NARAC: An Emergency Response Resource for Predicting the Atmospheric Dispersion and Assessing the Consequences of Airborne Radionuclides

摘要

Hazardous radioactive materials can be released into the atmosphere by accidents at nuclear power plants, fuel processing facilities, and other facilities, and by transportation accidents involving nuclear materials. In addition, the post-cold-war proliferation of nuclear material has increased the potential for terrorism scenarios involving radiological dispersal devices, improvised nuclear devices, and inadequately secured military nuclear weapons. To mitigate these risks, the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) serves as a national resource for the United States, providing tools and services to quickly predict the environmental contamination and health effects caused by airborne radionuclides, and to provide scientifically based guidance to emergency managers for the protection of human life. Located at the United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, NARAC supports DOE facilities, DOE emergency response teams, and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC). NARAC's original mission was limited to radiological releases, but during the 26 years since its inception NARAC also has developed capabilities to predict the atmospheric dispersion and health effects of hazardous chemicals and biological materials.