RSICC CODE PACKAGE CCC-553

 

 

 

1.   NAME AND TITLE

RASCAL 3.0.5:  Radiological ASsessment for Consequence AnaLysis for Windows,

Version December 2006 with December 2008 Updates.

 

2.   CONTRIBUTORS

Athey Consulting, Charles Town, West Virginia,

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C.

 

3.   CODING LANGUAGE AND COMPUTER

Fortran 77, Visual Basic and Fortran; Pentium running Windows XP (C00553PC58610).

 

4.   NATURE OF PROBLEM SOLVED

      RASCAL, Version 3.0.5 (December 2006 release with December 2008 updates), is the latest in the series of the Radiological Assessment System for Consequence Analysis codes. It evaluates releases from nuclear power plants, spent fuel storage pools and casks, fuel cycle facilities, and radioactive material handling facilities. Developed for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, RASCAL is designed to be used in the independent assessment of dose projections during response to radiological emergencies. The system supplements assessments based on plant conditions and quick estimates based on hand-calculational methods. RASCAL will be used by response personnel to conduct an independent evaluation of dose and consequence projections and for training and drills. The model was developed to allow consideration of the dominant aspects of source term, transport, dose, and consequences. Source term calculations in RASCAL estimate the amount of radioactive (or hazardous) material released based on a wide variety of potential radiological accident scenarios. The source term calculations performed that pertain to fuel-cycle facility and materials accidents can be generally categorized as (1) fuel-cycle facility/UF accidents, (2) uranium fires and explosions, (3) criticality accidents, and (4) isotopic releases (e.g., transportation, materials).

            The main purpose of the December 2008 update is to replace the Field Measurement to Dose (FMDose) model used in RASCAL v3.0.5. Some problems were identified, and rather than fix the existing v3.0.5 version of the FMDose model, it was decided to release the v4.0 model early. In addition to corrections, this version has the following differences in FMDose:  

§         Elimination of the inadvertent ingestion option

§         Addition of an option for building shielding and occupancy time

§         Expansion of the nuclide list for samples

§         Reinstatement of the calculation of early phase doses

§         Changes in the calculation of DRLs to match the FRMAC methods.

 

      The December 2008 update also includes the following other changes:

§         The various program help files were changed to update some information.

§         The facility database was modified to include recent reactor power uprates.

§         The nuclide data base was modified to delete some unused data and to add the IAEA RBE-wt acute dose factors.

 

5.   METHOD OF SOLUTION

RASCAL computes power reactor source terms, airborne transport of activity (through both Gaussian plume and puff models), and the resulting doses. The results allow easy comparison to EPA protective action guidelines.

 

6.   RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS

Because RASCAL is designed to be used during a radiological emergency, it is assumed that the amount of activity being released (the source term) and the meteorological conditions will not be precisely known. The doses computed for RASCAL are, therefore, assumed to be rough estimates.

 

7.   TYPICAL RUNNING TIME

Run times vary.

 

8.   COMPUTER HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

RASCAL runs on personal computers.

 

9.   COMPUTER SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

RASCAL 3.0.5 is a Windows application. Executables included in the package were created using Microsoft Visual Basic 6 and Compaq Visual Fortran 6.6 compilers. No source files are distributed. The software was tested under Windows XP. RASCAL runs under Windows Vista, but there may be problems with some of the older help files. Vista users can download a file from Microsoft that will allow them to use the older format help files.

 

10.  REFERENCES

S. A. Mcguire, J. V. Ramsdell, Jr., and G. F. Athey, “RASCAL 3.0.5 Description of Models and Methods,” NUREG-1887 (August 2007).

G. F. Athey, S. A. Mcguire, J. V. Ramsdell, Jr., “RASCAL 3.0.5 Workbook,” NUREG-1889 (September 2007).

“Field Measurement to Dose Model Calculations,” Draft RASCAL 4.0 Technical Description (December 2008).

 

11.  CONTENTS OF CODE PACKAGE

Included are the referenced documents and one CD which includes executables, data, help files, and an install procedure. Source files are not included in this release.

 

12.  DATE OF ABSTRACT

March 1993, revised May 1995, Aug. 1997, Nov. 1998, July 2001, June 2002, July 2007, February 2008, May 2008, January 2009.

 

KEYWORDS:   AIRBORNE; GAUSSIAN PLUME MODEL; INTERNAL DOSE; MICROCOMPUTER; NUCLIDE TRANSPORT; RADIOACTIVI­TY RELEASE; RADIOLOGICAL SAFETY; REACTOR ACCI­DENT