A Study of Wind Characteristics around Nuclear Power Plants Based on the Joint Distribution of the Wind Direction and Wind Speed

Abstract

Given that toxic substances are diffused by the various movements of the atmosphere, it isvery important to evaluate the risks associated with this phenomenon. When analyzing the behavioralcharacteristics of these atmospheric diffusion models, the main input data are the wind speed and winddirection among the meteorological data. In particular, it is known that a certain wind direction occursin summer and winter in Korea under the influence of westerlies and monsoons. In this study, synopticmeteorological observation data provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration were analyzedfrom January 1, 2012 to the end of August of 2022 to understand the regional wind characteristics ofnuclear power plants and surrounding areas. The selected target areas consisted of 16 weather stationsaround the Hanbit, Kori, Wolsong, Hanul, and Saeul nuclear power plants that are currently in operation. The analysis was based on the temperature, wind direction, and wind speed data at those locations. Average, maximum, minimum, median, and mode values were analyzed using long-term annualtemperature, wind speed, and wind direction data. Correlation coefficient values were also analyzed todetermine the linear relationships among the temperature, wind direction, and wind speed. Among the16 districts, Uljin had the highest wind speed. The median wind speed values for each region were lowerthan the average wind speed values. For regions where the average wind speed exceeds the medianwind speed, Yeongju, Gochang, Gyeongju, Yeonggwang, and Gimhae were calculated as 0.69 m s-1, 0.54m s-1, 0.45 m s-1, 0.4 m s-1, and 0.36 m s-1, respectively. The average temperature in the 16 regions was13.52 degrees Celsius; the median temperature was 14.31 degrees and the mode temperature was20.69 degrees. The average regional temperature standard deviation was calculated and found to be9.83 degrees. The maximum summer temperatures were 39.7, 39.5, and 39.3 in Yeongdeok, Pohang, andYeongcheon, respectively. The wind directions and speeds in the 16 regions were plotted as a wind rosegraph, and the characteristics of the wind direction and speed of each region were investigated. It wasfound that there is a dominant wind direction correlated with the topographical characteristics in eachregion. However, the linear relationship between the wind speed and direction by region varied from 0.53to 0.07. Through this study, by evaluating meteorological observation data on a long-term synoptic scaleof ten years, regional characteristics were found.