The hotspot code as a tool to improve risk analysis during emergencies: Predicting i-131 and cs-137 dispersion in the fukushima nuclear accident

Conventional and non-conventional emergencies are among the most important safety and security concerns of the new millennium. Nuclear power and research plants, high-energy particle accelerators, radioactive substances for industrial and medical uses are all considered credible sources of threats both in warfare and in terror scenarios. Estimates of potential radiation releases of radioactive contamination related to these threats are therefore essential in order to prepare and respond to such scenarios. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that computational modeling codes to simulate transport of radioactivity are extremely valuable to assess expected radiation levels and to improve risk analysis during emergencies helping the emergency planner and the first responders in the first hours of an occurring emergency.