biostudies-literatureUnknown12(1)Kefeng SRadioactive aerosols harmful to humans are often produced in nuclear accidents, and their source term characteristics (total volume and particle size distribution) and dispersion patterns have important implications for accident response and hazard assessment. However, experimental studies of radioactive aerosols cannot be directly conducted in open space due to the hazardous nature of radioactive aerosols. In this study, silver was used instead of plutonium to study the aerosol source term under different specific internal energy inputs (SIEI) to simulate a low order explosion in an accident. Results show that aerosol release fraction (ARF) and respirable release fraction (RRF) of silver increase linearly with SIEI first, then varies in a range of 8% ~ 19%, with a turning point at SIEI ofScientific reports3148https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8873271biostudies-literatureStudy of silver aerosol source term at different specific internal energy input from HE detonation devices.PMC8873271Penglai WWenjie LBo LChenhong YKun LYajun ZHaibo HKefeng SYaqin SLuochuan SWei LQingpeng MfalseStudy of silver aerosol source term at different specific internal energy input from HE detonation devices.Radioactive aerosols harmful to humans are often produced in nuclear accidents, and their source term characteristics (total volume and particle size distribution) and dispersion patterns have important implications for accident response and hazard assessment. However, experimental studies of radioactive aerosols cannot be directly conducted in open space due to the hazardous nature of radioactive aerosols. In this study, silver was used instead of plutonium to study the aerosol source term under different specific internal energy inputs (SIEI) to simulate a low order explosion in an accident. Results show that aerosol release fraction (ARF) and respirable release fraction (RRF) of silver increase linearly with SIEI first, then varies in a range of 8% ~ 19%, with a turning point at SIEI of2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Feb2025-06-01T12:04:45.969Z2025-06-01T12:04:45.969ZS-EPMC88732713521052910.1038/s41598-022-07180-w