WRAITH - A Computer Code for Calculating Internal and External Doses Resulting From An Atmospheric Release of Radioactive Material

Abstract

WRAITH is a FORTRAN computer code which calculates the doses received by a standard man exposed to an accidental release of radioactive material. The movement of the released material through the atmosphere is calculated using a bivariate straight-line Gaussian distribution model, with Pasquill values for standard deviations. The quantity of material in the released cloud is modified during its transit time to account for radioactive decay and daughter production. External doses due to exposure to the cloud can be calculated using a semi-infinite cloud approximation. In situations where the semi-infinite cloud approximation is not a good one, the external dose can be calculated by a "finite plume" three-dimensional point-kernel numerical integration technique. Internal doses due to acute inhalation are cal.culated using the ICRP Task Group Lung Model and a four-segmented gastro-intestinal tract model. Translocation of the material between body compartments and retention in the body compartments are calculated using multiple exponential retention functions. Internal doses to each organ are calculated as sums of cross-organ doses, with each target organ irradiated by radioactive material in a number of source organs. All doses are calculated in rads, with separate values determined for high-LET and low-LET radiation