Accumulation of anthropogenic and natural radionuclides in bottom sediments of the Northwest Pacific Ocean

Moon, Duk Soo; Hong, Gi Hoon; Kim, Young Il; Baskaran, M.; Chung, Chang-Soo; Kim, Suk Hyun; Lee, Hee Jun; Lee, Sang‐Han; Povinec, P.

doi:10.1016/s0967-0645(03)00140-1

Cited by 53 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…A significant part of caesium and other radionuclides will bind to suspended particles and cause sedimentary contamination by deposition on the seafloor, as observed previously for atmospheric fallout from nuclear tests (Lee et al, 2005;Moon et al, 2003). Consequences will be significant for months and years in the vicinity of the plant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

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Estimation of marine source-term following Fukushima Dai-ichi accident

Bois

Laguionie

Boust

et al. 2012

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

215

113

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Contamination of the marine environment following the accident in the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant represented the most important artificial radioactive release flux into the sea ever known. The radioactive marine pollution came from atmospheric fallout onto the ocean, direct release of contaminated water from the plant and transport of radioactive pollution from leaching through contaminated soil. In the immediate vicinity of the plant (less than 500 m), the seawater concentrations reached 68,000 Bq.L(-1) for (134)Cs and (137)Cs, and exceeded 100,000 Bq.L(-1) for (131)I in early April. Due to the accidental context of the releases, it is difficult to estimate the total amount of radionuclides introduced into seawater from data obtained in the plant. An evaluation is proposed here, based on measurements performed in seawater for monitoring purposes. Quantities of (137)Cs in seawater in a 50-km area around the plant were calculated from interpolation of seawater measurements. The environmental halftime of seawater in this area is deduced from the time-evolution of these quantities. This halftime appeared constant at about 7 days for (137)Cs. These data allowed estimation of the amount of principal marine inputs and their evolution in time: a total of 27 PBq (12 PBq-41 PBq) of (137)Cs was estimated up to July 18. Even though this main release may be followed by residual inputs from the plant, river runoff and leakage from deposited sediments, it represents the principal source-term that must be accounted for future studies of the consequences of the accident on marine systems. The (137)Cs from Fukushima will remain detectable for several years throughout the North Pacific, and (137)Cs/(134)Cs ratio will be a tracer for future studies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Dispersion of the soluble fraction of the radionuclides will mainly take place in the surface mixing layer. The fraction of radionuclides associated with solid particles nevertheless could be transported to the bottom of the sea by sedimentation (Lee et al, 2005;McCartney et al, 1994;Moon et al, 2003).…”

Section: Hydrodynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of marine source-term following Fukushima Dai-ichi accident

Bois

Laguionie

Boust

et al. 2012

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

215

113

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“…Sediment studies usually include Pu isotopes in combination with other radionuclides or stable isotopes (e.g. Krishnaswami et al, 1980;Santschi et al, 1980;Benninger and Krishnaswami, 1981;Cochran, 1985;Smith et al, 1986;Carpenter et al, 1987;Lapicque et al, 1987;Buffoni et al, 1992;Huh et al, 1997;Huh and Su, 1999;Smith et al, 2000b;Gascó et al, 2002;Su and Huh, 2002;Moon et al, 2003;Garcia-Orellana et al, 2009). Knowledge of particle mixing rates in sediments is essential for deconvoluting different depth-dependent sediment processes that could influence the distribution of chemical pollutants.…”

Section: Sediment Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Knowledge of particle mixing rates in sediments is essential for deconvoluting different depth-dependent sediment processes that could influence the distribution of chemical pollutants. The various Pu studies in marine sediments have contributed to developing sediment mixing models with constant, continuous, or pulsed Pu inputs Smith et al, 2000b;Moon et al, 2003).…”

Section: Sediment Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plutonium isotopes as tracers for ocean processes: A review

Lindahl

Lee

Worsfold

et al. 2010

Marine Environmental Research

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Since the first nuclear weapons tests in the 1940s, pulsed inputs of plutonium isotopes have served as excellent tracers for understanding sources, pathways, dynamics and the fate of pollutants and particles in the marine environment. Due to the well-defined spatial and temporal inputs of Pu, the long half- Pu and its unique chemical properties, Pu is a potential tracer for various physical and biogeochemical ocean processes, including circulation, sedimentation and biological productivity, and hence a means of assessing the impacts of global climate change. Due to the source dependency of the Pu isotopic signature, plutonium isotopes are beginning to be exploited as tools for the evaluation and improvement of regional and global ocean models that will enhance understanding of past and future changes in the oceans. This paper addresses the major sources of Pu and the physical and biogeochemical behaviour in the marine environment. Finally, the use of Pu isotopes as tracers for various oceanic processes (e.g. water mass transport, particle export, and sedimentation) is considered.

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“…Inventories of 239þ240 Pu and 137 Cs in the sediment were found to be inversely related to water depth and linearly correlated with sediment accumulation rates . Therefore, inventories of radionuclides in sediments in the shallow water marginal seas and areas which have a relatively small volume of seawater above or have a high sediment accumulation rate were general higher than those of the deep-seas (Duran et al, 2004;Hirose, 2009;Moon et al, 2003;WOMARS, 2005). The distributions of Pu isotopes in sediments of marginal seas of the western North Pacific have been intensively studied in the late half of the last century Hong et al, 2002;Ito et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2002Kim et al, , 2004Lee et al, 2003;Nakamura, 1987, 1992;Wang and Yamada, 2005;Yamada et al, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%