Arrival time and magnitude of airborne fission products from the Fukushima, Japan, reactor incident as measured in Seattle, WA, USA

Leon, J.; Jaffe, Daniel A.; Kašpar, J.; Knecht, A.; Miller, Michael L.; Robertson, R. G. H.; Schubert, A.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.06.005

Cited by 122 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Progressive decline of 131 I in precipitation at our location was faster than can be attributed to radioactive decay, indicating efficient washout of iodine from the atmosphere by abundant spring rain (70 mm March 11 -April 11, and 120 mm April 11-May 11). A similar effect was observed for Chernobyl fallout (17).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Given that the cosmogenic production of 7 Be in the atmosphere is approximately constant (15), we attribute the second 131 I peak to more efficient removal of radionuclides from the atmosphere rather than to a secondary pulse of 131 I from Japan. In this manner, the 131 I∶ 7 Be ratio (Table S1) at our location provides a metric that is consistent with the history of the FDNPP plume approaching North America (17). Progressive decline of 131 I in precipitation at our location was faster than can be attributed to radioactive decay, indicating efficient washout of iodine from the atmosphere by abundant spring rain (70 mm March 11 -April 11, and 120 mm April 11-May 11).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 77%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Surficial redistribution of fallout¹³¹iodine in a small temperate catchment

Landis

Hamm²,

Renshaw³

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Isotopes of iodine play significant environmental roles, including a limiting micronutrient ( 127 I), an acute radiotoxin ( 131 I), and a geochemical tracer ( 129 I). But the cycling of iodine through terrestrial ecosystems is poorly understood, due to its complex environmental chemistry and low natural abundance. To better understand iodine transport and fate in a terrestrial ecosystem, we traced fallout 131 iodine throughout a small temperate catchment following contamination by the 11 March 2011 failure of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. We find that radioiodine fallout is actively and efficiently scavenged by the soil system, where it is continuously focused to surface soils over a period of weeks following deposition. Mobilization of historic (pre-Fukushima) 137 cesium observed concurrently in these soils suggests that the focusing of iodine to surface soils may be biologically mediated. Atmospherically deposited iodine is subsequently redistributed from the soil system via fluvial processes in a manner analogous to that of the particle-reactive tracer 7 beryllium, a consequence of the radionuclides’ shared sorption affinity for fine, particulate organic matter. These processes of surficial redistribution create iodine hotspots in the terrestrial environment where fine, particulate organic matter accumulates, and in this manner regulate the delivery of iodine nutrients and toxins alike from small catchments to larger river systems, lakes and estuaries.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 77%

Surficial redistribution of fallout¹³¹iodine in a small temperate catchment

Landis

Hamm²,

Renshaw³

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The clean association of Tokyo 23 waste reports that ashes contain radioactive substance continuously after the disaster. In addition, burning earthquake debris derived from the northeast regions in Japan is another significant concern of spreading radioactive particles because burning earthquake debris could make secondary spreading contamination worldwide, as much as the primary spreading contamination [11], [12]. …”

Section: Diffusion Of Radioactive Substancementioning

confidence: 99%

On a Field Investigation and Open Data Analysis to Identify Diffusion Sources of Radioactive Substance

Ishida¹

2013

IJESD

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Abstract-After the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster due to the huge earthquake, spreading contamination is a serious fear for Japanese society. In this paper, a field investigation is described to understand the contamination in the west part of Japan, which is in a region approximately a thousand km from the east power plant. Based on the contamination origin found in the investigation, open data is analyzed to identify important factors for spreading radioactive substance in terms of relationship between air dose rate and weather conditions. Based on the analysis, a detection rule or algorithm for the contamination origin is summarized to develop a detection system for radiation warning. Air dose rate is observed on each public monitoring point. The nearest weather observation station for each public monitoring point concerning air dose rate is also identified to analyze the relationship between air dose rate and weather conditions.According to the analysis, rainfall is an effective trigger to drop radioactive substance, such as contaminated airborne particles, to the ground. However, long-term rainfall, e.g., over half of a day, also has an effect to clean the air and ground. The most serious factor is wind direction from spreading origins of the particles in terms of air dose rate. In addition, consistent wind from a spreading origin can bring the particles without rainfall. On the other hand, wind speed seems not to be a big factor of increase of air dose rate, although the speed could multiply the effect of wind consistency on a spike of the dose rate.

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“…Numerical simulation showed that the radionuclides derived from FNPP1 circulated around the Northern Hemisphere (Stohl et al, 2012), and the fission products were actually detected in aerosol, gaseous, rain and snow samples collected in North America (e.g., Bowyer et al, 2011;Leon et al, 2011), Europe (e.g., Bossew et al, 2012;Masson et al, 2011), central Russia (Bolsunovsky & Dementyev, 2011;Melgunov et al, 2012) and Taiwan (Huh et al, 2012). The radionuclides emitted from FNPP1 were also detected from terrestrial biota not only in Japan (e.g., Hashimoto et al, 2012;Higaki et al, 2012;Tagami et al, 2012) but also in North America (Thakur et al, 2012) and Europe Pittauerova et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Horizontal distribution of Fukushima-derived radiocesium in zooplankton in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

et al. 2013

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The magnitude of the 9.0 Tohoku earthquake and the ensuing tsunami on 11 March 2011, inflicted heavy damage on the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FNPP1). Fission products were emitted, falling over a broad range in the Northern Hemisphere, and water contaminated with radionuclides leaked into the ocean. In this study, we described the horizontal distribution of the Fukushima-derived radiocesium in zooplankton and in seawater in the western North Pacific Ocean (500–2100 km from the FNPP1) 10 months after the accident. ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs were detected in zooplankton and seawater from all the stations. Because of its short half-life, the ¹³⁴Cs detected in our samples could only be derived from the FNPP1 accident. The highest ¹³⁷Cs activity in zooplankton was the same order of magnitude as it was one month after the accident, and average activity was one or two orders of magnitude higher than ¹³⁷Cs activities observed before the accident around Japan. Horizontally, the radiocesium activity concentrations in zooplankton were high at around 25° N while those in surface seawater were high at around the transition area between the Kuroshio and the Oyashio currents (36–40° N). We observed subsurface radiocesium maxima in density range of the North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water and the occurrence of many diel vertical migratory zooplankton. These suggested that the high activity concentrations in the subtropical zooplankton at around 25° N were connected to the subsurface radiocesium and active vertical migration of zooplankton. However, the high activity concentrations of radiocesium in subsurface seawater did not necessarily correlate with the higher radiocesium activity in zooplankton. Activity concentrations of radiocesium in zooplankton might be influenced not only by the environmental radiocesium activity concentrations but also by other factors, which are still unknown

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Arrival time and magnitude of airborne fission products from the Fukushima, Japan, reactor incident as measured in Seattle, WA, USA

Cited by 122 publications

References 12 publications

Surficial redistribution of fallout¹³¹iodine in a small temperate catchment

Surficial redistribution of fallout¹³¹iodine in a small temperate catchment

On a Field Investigation and Open Data Analysis to Identify Diffusion Sources of Radioactive Substance

Horizontal distribution of Fukushima-derived radiocesium in zooplankton in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

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Arrival time and magnitude of airborne fission products from the Fukushima, Japan, reactor incident as measured in Seattle, WA, USA

Cited by 122 publications

References 12 publications

Surficial redistribution of fallout131iodine in a small temperate catchment

Surficial redistribution of fallout131iodine in a small temperate catchment

On a Field Investigation and Open Data Analysis to Identify Diffusion Sources of Radioactive Substance

Horizontal distribution of Fukushima-derived radiocesium in zooplankton in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

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Surficial redistribution of fallout¹³¹iodine in a small temperate catchment

Surficial redistribution of fallout¹³¹iodine in a small temperate catchment