NRC Radiological Assessment Code for Consequence Assessment (RASCAL) Version 4

NRC RADIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT CODE FOR CONSEQUENCE ASSESSMENT (RASCAL) VERSION 4.0: UPDATES, PERSPECTIVES, INITIATIVES, RESOURCES, AND FUTURE PLANS

Lou Brandon (USNRC) () (301) 415-8013

RASCAL 4.0 has been embraced by many responders and response agencies as a welcome update and significant upgrade over the previous version. This 45-minute presentation will touch on the following topics (and may include guest presenters or invite comments from the audience who have taken the initiative to use or further develop RASCAL 4.0 in useful ways).

• General overview of the new features of RASCAL 4.0
• Updates that have been made in the newest release – RASCAL 4.0.1 (soon)
• Insights from specific case histories that illustrate important perspectives
• Comparison and contrast with DOE’s TurboFRMAC (2009 and 2010), including verification of the models, highlights of important differences, and clarification of interpretations.
• RASCAL 4.0 resources and availability, including future plans that may require individual registration and use of a non-disclosure agreement requirement to obtain a copy of the program.
• An Exelon/Entergy effort has produced a Unified RASCAL Interface (URI) program that uses the RASCAL atmospheric dispersion module: a brief contrast and comparison of the models will be discussed.
• A Pacific Northwest National Laboratory effort to automate the meteorological data entry into RASCAL (NOTE: at the time of the NREP conference there may be a prototype available to demonstrate)
• Future initiatives, including RASCAL upgrade modifications that will allow it to interface with SOARCA, new reactor, advanced reactor, and other modified source terms.
• A State, Federal, and Licensee online RASCAL User Group discussion forum could be useful to help guide RASCAL development. The current status will be shared.

Biographical Sketch: Lou Brandon:

Lou Brandon is a certified health physicist and currently serves as an Emergency Response Coordinator at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He is the program manager for the RASCAL code. As part of the NRC Incident Response Program, Lou coordinates and trains the NRC headquarters Protective Measures Teams and dose assessors. He is actively involved with the FRMAC Assessment, Operations and IMAAC interagency workgroups.

Before joining the NRC in 2006, Lou worked for the State of Michigan as Chief of the Nuclear Facilities Unit within the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). During that time, he worked extensively with various assessment models including RASCAL. Lou received an MS degree in Physics from Michigan State University in 1987.