Cesium-137 deposition and contamination of Japanese soils due to the Fukushima nuclear accident

Yasunari, Teppei J.; Stohl, Andreas; Hayano, R.; Burkhart, John F.; Eckhardt, Sabine; Yasunari, Tetsuzo

doi:10.1073/pnas.1112058108

Cited by 579 publications

(330 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Yasunari et al [4] estimated the amount of radioactive substance on and inside soil in Japan. Koyama drew a contamination map around Shizuoka prefecture due to the Fukushima No.…”

Section: Diffusion Of Radioactive Substancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…From Sanyo region in the south to Sanin region in the north, through Sanyo, Chugoku, and Hamada highways, three radiation peaks were found. South Mountain tends to get high contamination due to the direct fallout from Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant [4]. From the north part of Yamaguchi prefecture to the west part of Shimane prefecture (Fig.…”

Section: Field Investigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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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“…Yasunari et al [4] estimated the amount of radioactive substance on and inside soil in Japan. Koyama drew a contamination map around Shizuoka prefecture due to the Fukushima No.…”

Section: Diffusion Of Radioactive Substancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Field Investigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Ishida¹

2013

IJESD

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“…Radioactive materials released during the accident reached farmlands in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures and contaminated the soil and agricultural products (Yasunari et al 2011;Zheng et al 2014). Rice is the main staple food of the Japanese diet, and it is the most valuable agricultural product in Fukushima Prefecture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rice Inspections in Fukushima Prefecture

Nihei

2016

Agricultural Implications of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

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We summarize the inspections of radiocesium concentration levels in rice produced in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, for 3 years from the nuclear accident in 2011. In 2011, three types of verifications, preliminary survey, main inspection, and emergency survey, revealed that rice with radiocesium concentration levels over 500 Bq/kg (the provisional regulation level until March 2012 in Japan) was identified in the areas north and west of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The internal exposure of an average adult eating rice grown in the area north of the nuclear plant was estimated as 0.05 mSv/year. In 2012, Fukushima Prefecture authorities decided to investigate the radiocesium concentration levels in all rice using custom-made belt conveyor testers. Notably, rice with radiocesium concentration levels over 100 Bq/kg (the new standard since April 2012 in Japan) were detected in only 71, 28 and 2 bags out of the total 10,338,000 in 2012, 11,001,000 in 2013 and 10,988,824 in 2014, respectively. We considered that there were almost no rice exceeding 100 Bq/kg produced in Fukushima Prefecture after 3 years from the nuclear accident, and the safety of Fukushima's rice were ensured because of the investigation of all rice.

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“…Radiocesium, the dominant nuclide released during the accident, reached agricultural lands in Fukushima and its neighboring prefectures and contaminated the soil and agricultural products [1,2]. To guarantee the safe consumption and handling of agricultural, livestock, forestry, and marine products, monitoring inspections were established [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To guarantee the safe consumption and handling of agricultural, livestock, forestry, and marine products, monitoring inspections were established [3]. According to these inspections [4][5][6] the ratio of samples exceeding the new standard value of radiocesium [7] (100 Bq kg 1 ) were found to be 5.7 % for soybean, 2.6 % for rice, and 11 % for wheat in 2011; 2.6 % for soybean, 0.0007 % for rice, and 0 % for wheat in 2012; and 1.9 % for soybean, 0.0003 % for rice, and 0 % for wheat in 2013. The inspection results indicate that the ratio of soybean exceeding 100 Bq kg 1 was high compared with that for rice and wheat and that the tendency to decline was low compared with that for rice and wheat.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Nitrogen Fertilization on Radiocesium Absorption in Soybean

Nihei

Hirose

Mori

et al. 2016

Radiological Issues for Fukushima’s Revitalized Future

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Radioactive materials that were released during the nuclear accident contaminated the soil and agricultural products. It has become clear that potassium fertilization is effective for the reducing radiocesium concentrations in agricultural crops. However, apart from reports about potassium, few reports have examined how nitrogen (N), which has a large effect on crop growth, contributes to the radiocesium absorption. Focusing on this point, we studied the effect of nitrogen fertilizer on the radiocesium absorption in soybean seedlings. The concentration of radiocesium in the seed of soybean was higher in nitrogen-fertilized plants than in plants grown without fertilizer. The radiocesium concentration in the aboveground biomass increased as the amount of nitrogen fertilization increased. A comparison of the effects of the different forms of nitrogen treatment shows that the highest radiocesium concentration in the aboveground biomass occurred with ammonium sulfate (approximately 3.7 times the non-N), the next highest absorption occurred with ammonium nitrate (approximately 2.4 times the non-N treatment), followed by calcium nitrate (approximately 2.2 times the non-N treatment). Furthermore, the amount of radiocesium in soil extracts was highest with ammonium-nitrogen fertilization. Further study is required to clarify the factors that incur an increase in radiocesium concentration in response to nitrogen fertilization. Special care is required to start farming soybean on fallow fields evacuated after the accident or on fields where rice has been grown before, which tend to have higher available nitrogen than the regularly cultivated fields.

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Cesium-137 deposition and contamination of Japanese soils due to the Fukushima nuclear accident

Cited by 579 publications

References 10 publications

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

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

Rice Inspections in Fukushima Prefecture

Effect of Nitrogen Fertilization on Radiocesium Absorption in Soybean

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