July 27, 2022 Radiological Stormwater Modeling Workshop: Modeling Checklist, Workshop Notes & Materials
Citation:
Mikelonis, A., M. Magnuson, K. Ratliff, K. Picel, C. Yu, D. LePoire, AND E. Yan. July 27, 2022 Radiological Stormwater Modeling Workshop: Modeling Checklist, Workshop Notes & Materials. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-22/285, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this report of the July 27th, 2022 Radiological Stormwater Modeling Workshop is to document the materials presented at the event and a summary of the discussion for those unable to attend. The report also synthesizes the content of the workshop into a checklist for the state and local stormwater community to prepare for and execute stormwater modeling projects that help track the spread of radiological contamination after an incident. The information is intended for use by a wide range of stakeholders including, but not limited to stormwater practitioners, emergency responders, and emergency planners.
Description:
The spread of radiological contamination from rainfall events is well documented from both the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters. However, the inclusion of stormwater modeling into local, state, and federal response planning and response is limited. The goal and purpose of the work presented in this report was to develop a decision-makers’ checklist for modeling stormwater runoff and subsequent contaminant movement in response and recovery that may be implemented at the federal, state and local levels. The checklist provided in this report includes resource readiness and coordination sections to be executed prior to a radiological emergency that walks the user through planning and coordination steps between radiological emergency planners, stormwater utility staff, and exposure experts. It also includes sections on model application, construction, and outputs to be used by stormwater project managers and modelers during recovery from a radiological emergency. The development of the decision-support checklist was informed through preparation for and conversations during a virtual tabletop exercise that included a combination of radiological first responders and state, federal, local, academic, and industry stormwater practitioners. The workshop organizing committee prepared training materials covering stormwater-radiological response and stormwater modeling outputs for a hypothetical scenario of a “dirty bomb” explosion at a U.S. Coast Guard Base. This report includes the notes from the workshop and the workshop materials.