A Review on Charging Characteristics and Coalescence Mechanism of Radioactive Aerosols for Nuclear Safety Assessment

With the orderly development of nuclear energy under the global carbon neutrality goal, the safety of radioactive material release during severe nuclear accidents has become a core issue restricting the sustainable development of nuclear energy. Radioactive aerosols dominate the mass of radioactive release, while the electrostatic interaction caused by the charging effect of radionuclide decay is often ignored in traditional transport models. This paper systematically elaborates the charging mechanism of radioactive aerosols and the coalescence mechanism of aerosol particles, summarizes the domestic and international research progress in this field, and analyzes the key scientific challenges existing in the current research. This review synthesizes the existing research and can provide theoretical support for the accurate prediction of radioactive aerosol transport behavior and radioactive consequence assessment during severe nuclear accidents.