Radiocarbon and radiocesium in litter fall at Kawamata, ~ 45 km NW from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (Japan)

Paterne, Martine; Evrard, Olivier; Hatté, Christine; Laceby, J. Patrick; Nouet, Julius; Onda, Yuichi

doi:10.1007/s10967-018-6360-9

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…In November 2011, a leaf litter sample was collected in Kawamata in northeast Japan and divided into two distinct fractions. Despite their quite high content of radiocesium, neither of the fractions yielded an increased 14 C concentration which was in concordance with the atmospheric level [ 98 ]. The radiocarbon screening of the surrounding of the FDNPP reactor buildings, which was conducted in the summer of 2012, has brought some interesting results.…”

Section: Fdnpp Impact On Radiocarbon Environmental Levelsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Impact of the Fukushima Accident on 3H and 14C Environmental Levels: A Review of Ten Years of Investigation

2023

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The investigation of the impact of the Fukushima accident is still going on although more than ten years have passed since the disaster. The main goal of this paper was to summarize the results of tritium and radiocarbon determinations in different environmental samples, possibly connected with the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident. A document containing compiled data may serve as a solid basis for further research in the selected fields. To accomplish such effort, we went through dozens of relevant published papers, reporting 3H and 14C activity concentrations in precipitations, groundwater, seawater, river systems, tree rings, and, in some more extraordinary samples, such as herbaceous plants or debris from the damaged reactor buildings. As the referenced results would not be obtainable without adequate analytical techniques, the most common methods for routine measurement of tritium and radiocarbon concentrations are discussed as well. We believe that the correct identification of the affected environmental compartments could help quantify the released 3H and 14C activities and track their following fate, which could be especially important for plans to discharge contaminated water from the FDNPP in the upcoming years.

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Section: Fdnpp Impact On Radiocarbon Environmental Levelsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Impact of the Fukushima Accident on 3H and 14C Environmental Levels: A Review of Ten Years of Investigation

2023

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“…Although previous dosimetric studies demonstrated that currently the internal exposure of both the local population and the decontamination workers remains minimal, both internal and external exposures of these groups should be studied over longer temporal periods to help understand the longterm impacts of this accident on exposed population groups. More research is also required to understand the fate and dynamics of other longer-lived radionuclides in the Fukushima www.soil-journal.net/5/333/2019/ SOIL, 5, 333-350, 2019 region including radiocarbon (Paterne et al, 2018;Povinec et al, 2016;Xu et al, 2016), plutonium and uranium isotopes (Jaegler et al, 2018;Zheng et al, 2013;Steinhauser, 2014) as they may be persistent in the environment even though many were emitted only at the trace and ultra-trace levels.…”

Section: Perspectives For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of landscape decontamination following the Fukushima nuclear accident: a review

Evrard

Laceby

Nakao

2019

SOIL

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The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in March 2011 resulted in the contamination of Japanese landscapes with radioactive fallout. Accordingly, the Japanese authorities decided to conduct extensive remediation activities in the impacted region to allow for the relatively rapid return of the local population. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the decontamination strategies and their potential effectiveness in Japan, focussing on particle-bound radiocesium. In the Fukushima Prefecture, the decision was taken to decontaminate the fallout-impacted landscapes in November 2011 for the 11 municipalities evacuated after the accident (Special Decontamination Zone -SDZ -1117 km 2 ) and for the 40 non-evacuated municipalities affected by lower, although still significant, levels of radioactivity (Intensive Contamination Survey Areas, 7836 km 2 ). Decontamination activities predominantly targeted agricultural landscapes and residential areas. No decontamination activities are currently planned for the majority of forested areas, which cover ∼ 75 % of the main fallout-impacted region. Research investigating the effectiveness of decontamination activities underlined the need to undertake concerted actions at the catchment scale to avoid renewed contamination from the catchment headwaters after the completion of remediation activities. Although the impact of decontamination on the radioactive dose rates for the local population remains a subject of debate in the literature and in the local communities, outdoor workers in the SDZ represent a group of the local population that may exceed the long-term dosimetric target of 1 mSv yr −1 . Decontamination activities generated ∼ 20 million m 3 of soil waste by early 2019. The volume of waste generated by decontamination may be decreased through incineration of combustible material and recycling of the less contaminated soil for civil engineering structures. However, most of this material will have to be stored for ∼ 30 years at interim facilities opened in 2017 in the vicinity of the FDNPP before being potentially transported to final disposal sites outside of the Fukushima Prefecture. Further research is required to investigate the perennial contribution of radiocesium from forest sources. In addition, the re-cultivation of farmland after decontamination raises additional questions associated with the fertility of remediated soils and the potential transfer of residual radiocesium to the plants. Overall, we believe it is important to synthesise the remediation lessons learnt following the FDNPP nuclear accident, which could be fundamental if a similar catastrophe occurs somewhere on Earth in the future.

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“…There are few publications in international journals regarding the potential or effectiveness of the latter strategy (e.g. Pareniuk et al, 2015). Among the few available studies, Kobayashi et al (2014) grew thirteen plant species from three families (Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae) in shallow and deeply cultivated fields where the 0-8 cm and 0-15 cm soil layers were respectively ploughed.…”

Section: Soil/farmland Decontaminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although previous dosimetric studies demonstrated that currently the internal exposure of both the local population and the decontamination workers remains minimal, both internal and external exposures of these groups should be studied over longer temporal periods to help understand longterm impacts of this and potentially other nuclear accidents on exposed population groups. More research is also required to understand the fate and dynamics of other longer-lived radionuclides in the Fukushima region including radiocarbon (Paterne et al, 2018;Povinec et al, 2016;Xu et al, 2016), plutonium and uranium isotopes (Jaegler et al, 2018;Zheng et al, 2013;Steinhauser, 2014) as they may be persistent in the environment even though many were emitted only at the trace and ultra-trace levels.…”

Section: Perspectives For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies and effectiveness of land decontamination in the region affected by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident: A review

Evrard¹,

Laceby²,

Nakao³

2019

Preprint

Self Cite

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Abstract. The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in March 2011 resulted in the contamination of Japanese landscapes with radioactive fallout. Accordingly, the Japanese authorities decided to conduct extensive remediation activities in the impacted region to allow for the relatively rapid return of the local population. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the decontamination strategies and their potential effectiveness in Japan, focussing on particle-bound radiocesium. In the Fukushima Prefecture, the decision was taken to decontaminate the fallout-impacted landscapes in November 2011 for the 11 municipalities evacuated after the accident (Special Decontamination Zones – SDZ, 1117 km2) and for the 40 non-evacuated municipalities affected by lower, although still significant, levels of radioactivity (Intensive Contamination Survey Areas, 7836 km2). Decontamination activities predominantly targeted agricultural landscapes and residential areas. No decontamination activities are currently planned for the majority of forested areas, which cover ~ 75 % of the main fallout-impacted region. Research investigating the effectiveness of decontamination activities underlined the need to undertake concerted actions at the catchment scale to avoid the renewed supply of contamination from the catchment headwaters after the completion of remediation activities. Although the impact of decontamination on the radioactive dose rates for the local population remains a subject of debate in the literature and in the local communities, outdoor workers in the SDZ represent a group of the local population that may exceed the long-term dosimetric target of 1 mSv yr−1. Decontamination activities generated ~ 20 million m3 of soil waste by early 2019. The volume of waste generated by decontamination may be decreased through incineration of combustible material and recycling of the less contaminated soil for civil engineering structures. However, most of this material will have to be stored for ~ 30 years at interim facilities opened in 2017 in the close vicinity of the FDNPP before being potentially transported to final disposal sites outside of the Fukushima Prefecture. Further research is required to investigate the perennial contribution of radiocesium from forest sources. In addition, the re-cultivation of farmland after decontamination raises additional questions associated with the fertility of remediated soils and the potential transfer of residual radiocesium to the plants. Overall, we believe it is important to synthesize the remediation lessons learnt following the FDNPP nuclear accident, which could be fundamental if a similar catastrophe occurs somewhere on Earth in the future.

show abstract

Radiocarbon and radiocesium in litter fall at Kawamata, ~ 45 km NW from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (Japan)

Cited by 6 publications

References 45 publications

Impact of the Fukushima Accident on 3H and 14C Environmental Levels: A Review of Ten Years of Investigation

Impact of the Fukushima Accident on 3H and 14C Environmental Levels: A Review of Ten Years of Investigation

Effectiveness of landscape decontamination following the Fukushima nuclear accident: a review

Strategies and effectiveness of land decontamination in the region affected by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident: A review

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