Potential contamination of surface water supplies by atmospheric releases from nuclear plants

Atmospheric releases of radionuclides, which might result from severe accidents at nuclear power plants, have the potential for contaminating drinking water supplies. The probability and consequences of the contamination of a water supply for a large city is explored using the Indian Point Nuclear Station and New York City as an example. Techniques are developed to calculate the deposition of radionuclides onto the watersheds of the New York City reservoirs, and the extent to which the run-off from the watersheds would contaminate drinking water. It is possible to demonstrate that the supplies could be contaminated above 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 20 drinking water limits and that population doses on the order of millions of person-rem could result from severe accidents. The relative (latent) risk of this pathway, however, would be small compared to other airborne pathway risks calculated for the same accidental release.