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Should we measure plutonium concentrations in marine sediments near Fukushima?

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Abstract

Pu contamination originating from Fukushima accident has not been detected in marine sediment samples collected outside a 30 km circle around the plant. It is shown, by means of numerical modelling, that if any impact from the accident has occurred, this would remain in a very close area to Fukushima because of the low Pu mobility in the marine environment. Since the situation inside the 30 km zone remains unknown, further studies on the determination of Pu isotopes in sediments within this area are required.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Dr Masanao Nakano (JAEA), who supplied JCOPE2 current data. KAERI was partially supported by a nuclear research and development program funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dpt Física Aplicada I, ETSIA Universidad de Sevilla, Ctra Utrera km 1, 41013, Sevilla, Spain

    R. Periáñez

  2. KAERI, Daedeok-Daero 989-111, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

    Kyung-Suk Suh & Byung-Il Min

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  1. R. Periáñez
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  2. Kyung-Suk Suh
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  3. Byung-Il Min
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Correspondence to R. Periáñez.

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Periáñez, R., Suh, KS. & Min, BI. Should we measure plutonium concentrations in marine sediments near Fukushima?. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 298, 635–638 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-013-2422-1

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