Dissolved radiocaesium in seawater off the coast of Fukushima during 2013–2015

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry volume 311, pages1479–1484(2017)Cite this article

Abstract

During 2013–2015, the dissolved 137Cs activity concentrations in seawater off the coast of Fukushima were one or two orders as high as those before the Fukushima accident. The activity concentrations in the surface-layer seawater at NPE2, NP0, NP2, NPE1, AN7, I01, E and A stations, which are located within about 10 km from the coast, relatively higher than those outside the 10 km zone. These relatively high concentrations (>10 mBq L−1) seem to be affected by several factors, including increased river input or contaminated water input from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station due to heavy rain events.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Captain Noda, Captain Hayashi and Captain Yoshida of the T/V Umitaka-maru, T/V Shinyo-maru and (R/V) Shinsei-maru, respectively, as well as all the crew members, for their on-board help during sample collection. This work was partially supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, the Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan (Nos. 24110004, 24110005) and Research and Development to Radiological Sciences in Fukushima Prefecture.

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Affiliations

  1. Environmental Radiation Dynamics Research Team, Fukushima Project Headquarters, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST-NIRS), 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan

    Miho Fukuda & Tatsuo Aono

  2. Tokyo Nuclear Services Co Ltd. (TNS), 7F 1-3-5 Taitou, Taitou-ku, Tokyo, 110-0016, Japan

    Shinnosuke Yamazaki

  3. School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University, 3-20-1 Orido, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, 420-8610, Japan

    Jun Nishikawa

  4. Research Group Environmental Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4, Shiraka-shirane, Tokai-mura, Ibaraki, 319-1195, Japan

    Shigeyoshi Otosaka

  5. Observation and Research Center for Ocean Systems, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8477, Japan

    Takashi Ishimaru

  6. Department of Ocean Sciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8477, Japan

    Jota Kanda

Authors
  1. Miho Fukuda
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  2. Tatsuo Aono
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  3. Shinnosuke Yamazaki
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  4. Jun Nishikawa
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  5. Shigeyoshi Otosaka
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  6. Takashi Ishimaru
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  7. Jota Kanda
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miho Fukuda.

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Fukuda, M., Aono, T., Yamazaki, S. et al. Dissolved radiocaesium in seawater off the coast of Fukushima during 2013–2015. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 311, 1479–1484 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-5009-9

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Keywords

  • Dissolved radiocaesium
  • Seawater
  • Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station accident