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

Given that toxic substances are diffused by the various movements of the atmosphere, it is very important to evaluate the risks associated with this phenomenon. When analyzing the behavioral characteristics of these atmospheric diffusion models, the main input data are the wind speed and wind direction among the meteorological data. In particular, it is known that a certain wind direction occurs in summer and winter in Korea under the influence of westerlies and monsoons. In this study, synoptic meteorological observation data provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration were analyzed from January 1, 2012 to the end of August of 2022 to understand the regional wind characteristics of nuclear power plants and surrounding areas. The selected target areas consisted of 16 weather stations around 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 annual temperature, wind speed, and wind direction data. Correlation coefficient values were also analyzed to determine the linear relationships among the temperature, wind direction, and wind speed. Among the 16 districts, Uljin had the highest wind speed. The median wind speed values for each region were lower than the average wind speed values. For regions where the average wind speed exceeds the median wind speed, Yeongju, Gochang, Gyeongju, Yeonggwang, and Gimhae were calculated as 0.69 m s^-1, 0.54m s^-1, 0.45m s^-1, 0.4m s^-1, and 0.36m s^-1, respectively. The average temperature in the 16 regions was 13.52 degrees Celsius; the median temperature was 14.31 degrees and the mode temperature was 20.69 degrees. The average regional temperature standard deviation was calculated and found to be 9.83 degrees. The maximum summer temperatures were 39.7, 39.5, and 39.3 in Yeongdeok, Pohang, and Yeongcheon, respectively. The wind directions and speeds in the 16 regions were plotted as a wind rose graph, and the characteristics of the wind direction and speed of each region were investigated. It was found that there is a dominant wind direction correlated with the topographical characteristics in each region. However, the linear relationship between the wind speed and direction by region varied from 0.53 to 0.07. Through this study, by evaluating meteorological observation data on a long-term synoptic scale of ten years, regional characteristics were found.