Daisuke Tsumune

Distribution of oceanic 137Cs from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant simulated numerically by a regional ocean model

Radioactive materials were released to the environment from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant as a result of the reactor accident after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011. The measured (137)Cs concentration in a seawater sample near the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant site reached 68 kBq L(-1) (6.8 × 10(4)Bq L(-1)) on 6 April. The two major likely pathways from the accident site to the ocean existed: direct release of high radioactive liquid wastes to the ocean and the deposition of airborne radioactivity to the ocean surface. By analysis of the (131)I/(137)Cs activity ratio, we determined that direct release from the site contributed more to the measured (137)Cs concentration than atmospheric deposition did. We then used a regional ocean model to simulate the (137)Cs concentrations resulting from the direct release to the ocean off Fukushima and found that from March 26 to the end of May the total amount of (137)Cs directly released was 3.5 ± 0.7 PBq ((3.5 ± 0.7) × 10(15)Bq). The simulated temporal change in (137)Cs concentrations near the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant site agreed well with observations. Our simulation results showed that (1) the released (137)Cs advected southward along the coast during the simulation period; (2) the eastward-flowing Kuroshio and its extension transported (137)C during May 2011; and (3) (137)Cs concentrations decreased to less than 10 BqL(-1) by the end of May 2011 in the whole simulation domain as a result of oceanic advection and diffusion. We compared the total amount and concentration of (137)Cs released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors to the ocean with the (137)Cs released to the ocean by global fallout. Even though the measured (137)Cs concentration from the Fukushima accident was the highest recorded, the total released amount of (137)Cs was not very large. Therefore, the effect of (137)Cs released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors on concentration in the whole North Pacific was smaller than that of past release events such as global fallout, and the amount of (137)Cs expected to reach other oceanic basins is negligible comparing with the past radioactive input.

Simulation of radioactive cesium transfer in the southern Fukushima coastal biota using a dynamic food chain transfer model.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F NPP) accident occurred on 11 March 2011. The accident introduced (137)Cs into the coastal waters which was subsequently transferred to the local coastal biota thereby elevating the concentration of this radionuclide in coastal organisms. In this study, the radioactive cesium levels in coastal biota from the southern Fukushima area were simulated using a dynamic biological compartment model. The simulation derived the possible maximum radioactive cesium levels in organisms, indicating that the maximum (137)Cs concentrations in invertebrates, benthic fish and predator fish occurred during late April, late May and late July, respectively in the studied area where the source was mainly the direct leakage of (137)Cs effluent from the 1F NPP. The delay of a (137)Cs increase in fish was explained by the gradual food chain transfer of (137)Cs introduced to the ecosystem from the initial contamination of the seawater. The model also provided the degree of radionuclide depuration in organisms, and it demonstrated the latest start of the decontamination phase in benthic fish. The ecological half-lives, derived both from model simulation and observation, were 1-4 months in invertebrates, and 2-9 months in plankton feeding fish and coastal predator fish from the studied area. In contrast, it was not possible to similarly calculate these parameters in benthic fish because of an unidentified additional radionuclide source which was deduced from the biological compartment model. To adequately reconstruct the in-situ depuration of radiocesium in benthic fish in the natural ecosystem, a contamination source associated with the bottom sediments is necessary.

Ocean chlorofluorocarbon and heat uptake during the twentieth century in the CCSM3

Abstract An ensemble of nine simulations for the climate of the twentieth century has been run using the Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3). Three of these runs also simulate the uptake of chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC-11) into the ocean using the protocol from the Ocean Carbon Model Intercomparison Project (OCMIP). Comparison with ocean observations taken between 1980 and 2000 shows that the global CFC-11 uptake is simulated very well. However, there are regional biases, and these are used to identify where too much deep-water formation is occurring in the CCSM3. The differences between the three runs simulating CFC-11 uptake are also briefly documented. The variability in ocean heat content in the 1870 control runs is shown to be only a little smaller than estimates using ocean observations. The ocean heat uptake between 1957 and 1996 in the ensemble is compared to the recent observational estimates of the secular trend. The trend in ocean heat uptake is considerably larger than the natural v...

Water masses labeled with global fallout 137Cs formed by subduction in the North Pacific

[1] We provide a first cross section of the 137 Cs concentration along 165°E longitude in the western North Pacific. The 137 Cs profile is characterized by several subsurface cores with high 137 Cs, including two 137 Cs concentration maxima at 20°N, one at 250 m (δ θ ≈ 25.5) and one at 400-500 m (σ θ ≈ 26.0) depths. The shallower maximum is in the density range of North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water (NPSTMW) and the deeper one is in the density range of Lighter Central Mode Water (LCMW). The main 137 Cs cores, therefore, were formed by movements of NPSTMW and LCMW in the interior ocean during the past four decades. The 137 Cs has been transported from subarctic region to subtropics and tropics as a result of subduction.

Mechanisms controlling dissolved iron distribution in the North Pacific: A model study

Mechanisms controlling the dissolved iron distribution in the North Pacific are investigated using the Biogeochemical Elemental Cycling (BEC) model with a resolution of approximately 1° in latitude and longitude and 60 vertical levels. The model is able to reproduce the general distribution of iron as revealed in available field data: surface concentrations are generally below 0.2 nM; concentrations increase with depth; and values in the lower pycnocline are especially high in the northwestern Pacific and off the coast of California. Sensitivity experiments changing scavenging regimes and external iron sources indicate that lateral transport of sedimentary iron from continental margins into the open ocean causes the high concentrations in these regions. This offshore penetration only appears under a scavenging regime where iron has a relatively long residence time at high concentrations, namely, the order of years. Sedimentary iron is intensively supplied around continental margins, resulting in locally high concentrations; the residence time with respect to scavenging determines the horizontal scale of elevated iron concentrations. Budget analysis for iron reveals the processes by which sedimentary iron is transported to the open ocean. Horizontal mixing transports sedimentary iron from the boundary into alongshore currents, which then carry high iron concentrations into the open ocean in regions where the alongshore currents separate from the coast, most prominently in the northwestern Pacific and off of California.

Numerical simulation of 137Cs and 239,240Pu concentrations by an ocean general circulation model

We simulated the spatial distributions and the temporal variations of 137Cs and (239,240)Pu concentrations in the ocean by using the ocean general circulation model which was developed by National Center of Atmospheric Research. These nuclides are introduced into seawaters from global fallout due to atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. The distribution of radioactive deposition on the world ocean is estimated from global precipitation data and observed values of annual deposition of radionuclides at the Meteorological Research Institute in Japan and several observed points in New Zealand. Radionuclides from global fallout have been transported by advection, diffusion and scavenging, and this concentration reduces by radioactive decay in the ocean. We verified the results of the model calculations by comparing simulated values of 137Cs and (239,240)Pu in seawater with the observed values included in the Historical Artificial Radionuclides in the HAM database, which has been constructed by the Meteorological Research Institute. The vertical distributions of the calculated 137Cs concentrations were in good agreement and are in good agreement with the observed profiles in the 1960s up to 250 m, in the 1970s up to 500 m, in the 1980s up to 750 m and in the 1990s up to 750 m. However, the calculated 137Cs concentrations were underestimated compared with the observed 137Cs at the deeper layer. This may suggest other transport processes of 137Cs to deep waters. The horizontal distributions of 137Cs concentrations in surface water could be simulated. A numerical tracer release experiment was performed to explain the horizontal distribution pattern. A maximum (239,240)Pu concentration layer occurs at an intermediate depth for both observed and calculated values, which is formed by particle scavenging. The horizontal distributions of the calculated (239,240)Pu concentrations in surface water could be simulated by considering the scavenging effect.

Status of 137Cs contamination in marine biota along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan derived from a dynamic biological model two years simulation following the Fukushima accident

Radiocesium ((134)Cs and (137)Cs) released into the Fukushima coastal environment was transferred to marine biota inhabiting the Pacific Ocean coastal waters of eastern Japan. Though the levels in most of the edible marine species decreased overtime, radiocesium concentrations in some fishes were still remained higher than the Japanese regulatory limit for seafood products. In this study, a dynamic food chain transfer model was applied to reconstruct (137)Cs levels in olive flounder by adopting the radiocesium concentrations in small demersal fish which constitute an important fraction of the diet of the olive flounder particularly inhabiting area near Fukushima. In addition, (137)Cs levels in slime flounder were also simulated using reported radiocesium concentrations in some prey organisms. The simulated results from Onahama on the southern border of the Fukushima coastline, and at Choshi the southernmost point where the contaminated water mass was transported by the Oyashio current, were assessed in order to identify what can be explained from present information, and what remains to be clarified three years after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (1FNPP) accident. As a result, the observed (137)Cs concentrations in planktivorous fish and their predator fish could be explained by the theoretically-derived simulated levels. On the other hand, the slow (137)Cs depuration in slime flounder can be attributed to uptake from unknown sources for which the uptake fluxes were of a similar magnitude as the excretion fluxes. Since the reported (137)Cs concentrations in benthic invertebrates off Onahama were higher than the simulated values, radiocesium transfer from these benthic detritivorous invertebrates to slime flounder via ingestion was suggested as a cause for the observed slow depuration of (137)Cs in demersal fish off southern Fukushima. Furthermore, the slower depuration in the demersal fish likely required an additional source of (137)Cs, i.e. contaminated detritus or sediment which was entrained with the prey during the active sediment feeding of this fish species.

Calculation of artificial radionuclides in the ocean by an ocean general circulation model

The concentrations of three artificial radionuclides (90Sr, 137Cs and 239+240Pu) introduced into seawaters from global fallout were simulated from 1957 to 1994 by using an ocean general circulation model. The distributions of the calculated 137Cs and 90Sr concentrations were in good agreement with the observed concentrations. The vertical distribution of the calculated 239+240Pu concentration in the South Pacific also agreed with the observed data. However, the calculated 239+240Pu concentrations in the North Pacific water columns were significantly underestimated in comparison with the observed data, which strongly suggests the presence of additional sources of plutonium input to the North Pacific.

Distribution of radionuclides in surface seawater obtained by an aerial radiological survey

We investigated the distribution in seawater of anthropogenic radionuclides from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP1) as preliminary attempt using a rapid aerial radiological survey performed by the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration on 18 April 2011. We found strong correlations between in-situ activities of 131I, 134Cs, and 137Cs measured in surface seawater samples and gamma-ray peak count rates determined by the aerial survey (correlation coefficients were 0.89 for 131I, 0.96 for134Cs, and 0.92 for137Cs). The offshore area of high radionuclide activity extended south and southeast from the FNPP1. The maximum activities of 131I, 134Cs, and 137Cs were 329, 650, and 599 Bq L−1, respectively. The 131I/137Cs ratio in surface water of the high-activity area ranged from 0.6 to 0.7. Considering the radioactive decay of 131I (half-life 8.02 d), we determined that the radionuclides in this area were directly released from FNPP1 to the ocean. We confirm that aerial radiological surveys can be effective for investigating the surface distribution of anthropogenic radionuclides in seawater. Our model reproduced the distribution pattern of radionuclides derived from the FNPP1, although results simulated by a regional ocean model were underestimated.

Dose Assessment for the Public due to Packages Shipping Radioactive Materials Hypothetically Sunk on a Continental Shelf

Abstract Radioactive materials such as spent fuel (SF), PuO2 powder, high level wastes (HLW) and fresh mixed oxide (MOX) fuel have been transported by sea between Europe and Japan for many years. Dose assessments for the public have been performed in the past for situations assuming packages shipping radioactive materials are hypothetically sunk on a continental shelf. These studies employed various conditions and methods in their assessments and the results were not always the same. In this study, the dose assessment for all types of package was performed under the same conditions and by the same methods. The effective dose to the members of the public for all materials is lower than previous evaluations due to more realistic assumptions used in this study. These evaluated effective doses are far less than the ICRP recommended limit (1 mSv.year−1 averaged over 5 years).