High-resolution radiation mapping to investigate FDNPP derived contaminant migration

Peter George Martin, Oliver D Payton, Yosuke Yamashiki, David A Richards, Thomas Bligh Scott

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
367 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

As of March 2016, five years will have passed since the earthquake and ensuing tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on Japan’s eastern coast, resulting in the explosive release of significant quantities of radioactive material. Over this period, significant time and resource has been expended on both the study of the contamination as well as its remediation from the affected environments. Presented in this work is a high-spatial resolution foot-based radiation mapping study using gamma-spectrometry at a site in the contaminated Iitate Village; conducted at different times, seventeen months apart. The specific site selected for this work was one in which consistent uniform agriculture was observed across its entire extent. From these surveys, obtained from along the main northwest trending line of the fallout plume, it was possible to determine the rate of reduction in the levels of contamination around the site attributable to the natural decay of the radiocesium, remediation efforts or material transport. Results from the work suggest that neither the natural decay of radiocesium nor its downward migration through the soil horizons were responsible for the decline in measured activity levels across the site, with the mobilisation of contaminant species likely adhered to soil particulate and the subsequent fluvial transport responsible for the measurable reduction in activity. This transport of contaminant via fluvial methods has already well studied implications for the input of contaminant material entering the neighbouring Pacific Ocean, as well as the deposition of material along rivers within previously decontaminated areas.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-35
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Environmental Radioactivity
Volume164
Early online date8 Jul 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2016

Research Groups and Themes

  • Cabot Institute Low Carbon Energy Research

Keywords

  • Radiation
  • Contamination
  • FDNPP
  • Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
  • Fukushima
  • Fukushima Daiichi
  • mapping

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