Shinji Oikawa

A nationwide survey of outdoor radon concentration in Japan

Nationwide outdoor radon (222Rn) concentrations in Japan were measured to survey the environmental outdoor 222Rn level and to estimate the effective dose to the general public from 222Rn and its progeny. The 222Rn concentration was measured with a passive-type radon monitor. The 222Rn monitors were installed at about 700 points throughout Japan from 1997 to 1999. The annual mean 222Rn concentration in Japan was estimated from four quarters measurements of 47 prefectures in Japan. Nationwide outdoor mean 222Rn concentration was 6.1 Bq m(-3). This was about 40% of the indoor 222Rn concentration in Japan. The 222Rn concentration in Japan ranged from 3.3 Bq m(-3) in the Okinawa region to 9.8 Bq m(-3) in the Chugoku region, reflecting geological characteristics. Seasonal variation of outdoor 222Rn concentration was also found to be lowest in July to September, and highest in October to December. From the results of this 222Rn survey and previous indoor 222Rn survey program, the effective dose to the general public from 222Rn and its progeny was estimated to be 0.45 mSv y(-1).

Plutonium isotopes concentration in seawater and bottom sediment off the Pacific coast of Aomori sea area during 1991-2005.

A radioactivity survey was launched in 1991 to determine the background levels of ²³⁹+²⁴⁰Pu in the marine environment off a commercial spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant before full operation of the facility. Particular attention was focused on the ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atom ratio in seawater and bottom sediment to identify the origins of Pu isotopes. The concentration of ²³⁹+²⁴⁰Pu was almost uniform in surface water, decreasing slowly over time. Conversely, the ²³⁹+²⁴⁰Pu concentration varied markedly in the bottom water and was dependent upon the sampling point, with higher concentrations of ²³⁹+²⁴⁰Pu observed in the bottom water sample at sampling points having greater depth. The ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atom ratio in the seawater and sediment samples was higher than that of global fallout Pu, and comparable with the data in the other sea area around Japan which has likely been affected by close-in fallout Pu originating from the Pacific Proving Grounds. The ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atom ratio in bottom sediment samples decreased with sea depth. The land-originated Pu is not considered as the reason of the increasing ²³⁹+²⁴⁰Pu concentration and also decreasing the ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atom ratio with sea depth, and further study is required to clarify it.

Distributions of Pu isotopes in seawater and bottom sediments in the coast of the Japanese archipelago before and soon after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station accident.

A radioactivity measurement survey was carried out from 24 April 2008 to 3 June 2011 to determine the levels of plutonium isotopes and (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios in the marine environments off the sites of commercial nuclear power stations around the Japanese islands; the sampling period extended to two months after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station accident. In our previous study (Oikawa et al., 2015), data on Pu isotopes and (241)Am in sediments have already been reported. In this study, we report those on Pu isotopes in seawater as well as sediments, and the characteristics of sediments in addition (e.g., ignition loss and biogenic opals). Concentrations of (239+240)Pu in seawater and bottom sediments remained nearly constant at all sampling locations during the survey period. In addition, no regional differences were observed in the (239+240)Pu concentrations in surface waters. Higher (239+240)Pu concentrations were found in bottom waters at deeper sampling locations, but the (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios were nearly constant regardless of the water depth. Higher (239+240)Pu concentrations were also found in bottom sediments at deeper sampling locations, but vice versa for (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios as reported in the previous report. The sediments samples from deeper locations showed the higher percentage of ignition loss as well as the higher content of biogenic opal. There was likely to be some driving force participating in the transfer of Pu isotopes associated with biogenic substances to the deeper seabed. The present survey showed that the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station did not contribute much to the inventory of Pu isotopes in the adjacent sea area.

Spatiotemporal distribution of 137Cs in the sea surrounding Japanese Islands in the decades before the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011.

The historic spatiotemporal distribution of 137Cs in the seawaters and sea-floor sediments adjacent to nuclear power plants in Japan are summarized, using data obtained over a period of time more than 20 years prior to the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Relatively uniform distributions of 137Cs were observed both in the surface seawaters (1 m in depth) and in deeper seawaters (10 to 30 m above the seabed and ranging from tens to hundreds of meters in depth) independent of the geographical position, although lower concentrations were observed in significantly deeper bottom seawaters. Conversely, there were wide variations in 137Cs levels between sediments, such that higher 137Cs concentrations were observed in the deeper sampling locations. A mathematical model describing the successive transfer of 137Cs from surface waters through deeper waters to sediments suggested that the transfer rate of 137Cs from deep water to the sediments, and the loss rate from bottom sediments, were both greater than the transfer rate from surface water to deeper water. It was found that the calculated regression lines for 137Cs depletion rates over time for surface waters, deeper waters, and sediments were approximately parallel when plotted on a semi-logarithmic coordinate system, regardless of the sampling location. A radionuclide depletion half-life was calculated to be 4 months to 16 years with the geometric mean of 2.22 y for the sediments in the Fukushima region, suggesting that nuclear contamination will be remediated over time through sediment redistribution processes such as remobilization, bioturbation, and migration due to sea currents.