Discharge of treated Fukushima nuclear accident contaminated water: macroscopic and microscopic simulations.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Liu Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8776541 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Radiocarbon activities were measured in annual tree rings for the years 2009 to 2015 from Japanese cedar trees (Cryptomeria japonica) collected at six sites ranging from 2.5-38 km northwest and north of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The 14C specific activity varied from 280.4 Bq kg-1 C in 2010 to 226.0 Bq kg-1 C in 2015. The elevated 14C activities in the 2009 and 2010 rings confirmed 14C discharges during routine reactor operations, whereas those activities that were indistinguishable from background in 2012-2015 coincided with the permanent shutdown of the reactors after the accident in 2011. High-resolution 14C analysis of the 2011 ring indicated 14C releases during the Fukushima accident. The resulted 14C activity decreased with increasing distance from the plant. The maximum 14C activity released during the period of the accident was measured 42.4 Bq kg-1 C above the natural ambient 14C background. Our findings indicate that, unlike other Fukushima-derived radionuclides, the 14C released during the accident is indistinguishable from ambient background beyond the local environment (~30 km from the plant). Furthermore, the resulting dose to the local population from the excess 14C activities is negligible compared to the dose from natural/nuclear weapons sources.
| S-EPMC5107918 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The β radioactivity of snow-pit samples collected in the spring of 2011 on four Tibetan Plateau glaciers demonstrate a remarkable peak in each snow pit profile, with peaks about ten to tens of times higher than background levels. The timing of these peaks suggests that the high radioactivity resulted from the Fukushima nuclear accident that occurred on March 11, 2011 in eastern Japan. Fallout monitoring studies demonstrate that this radioactive material was transported by the westerlies across the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The depth of the peak β radioactivity in each snow pit compared with observational precipitation records, suggests that the radioactive fallout reached the Tibetan Plateau and was deposited on glacier surfaces in late March 2011, or approximately 20 days after the nuclear accident. The radioactive fallout existed in the atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau for about one month.
| S-EPMC4319914 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We analysed suppressive effects of potassium (K) fertilisation on radiocesium (137Cs) uptake by hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) seedlings from soils contaminated after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Three-year-old seedlings were planted in a clear-cut forest (ca. 4?ha) during June-July 2014, and potassium chloride fertiliser (83?kg?K ha-1) was applied twice (August 2014 and April 2015). 137Cs concentrations in the needles in the fertilised plots were one-eighth of those in the control (unfertilised) plots at the end of the second growing season (October 2015). Our results clearly indicated that K fertilisation reduced radiocesium transfer from soil to planted cypress seedlings. A linear mixed model analysis revealed that 137Cs concentrations in the needles were significantly affected by 137Cs inventory in the soil (Bq m-2) adjacent to the sampled seedlings, exchangeable K concentrations in surface mineral soils (0-5?cm) and fertilisation. The exchangeable K concentrations in surface soils in October 2015 did not differ from those in August 2014 (before fertilisation) in the fertilised plots and in the control plots. These results suggested that the levels of exchangeable K would temporarily increase by fertilisation during the growing season, and radiocesium uptake by tree roots was suppressed.
| S-EPMC5688087 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The distribution of radiocesium was examined in bamboo shoots, Phyllostachys pubescens, collected from 10 sites located some 41 to 1140 km from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan, in the Spring of 2012, 1 year after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Maximum activity concentrations for radiocesium ¹³?Cs and ¹³?Cs in the edible bamboo shoot parts, 41 km away from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, were in excess of 15.3 and 21.8 kBq/kg (dry weight basis; 1.34 and 1.92 kBq/kg, fresh weight), respectively. In the radiocesium-contaminated samples, the radiocesium activities were higher in the inner tip parts, including the upper edible parts and the apical culm sheath, than in the hardened culm sheath and underground basal parts. The radiocesium/potassium ratios also tended to be higher in the inner tip parts. The radiocesium activities increased with bamboo shoot length in another bamboo species, Phyllostachys bambusoides, suggesting that radiocesium accumulated in the inner tip parts during growth of the shoots.
| S-EPMC4022665 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Six years after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, data for 236U and 236U/238U have remained limited to a few heavily contaminated samples. In the present study, activities of 236U, 239Pu, and 240Pu, along with other U isotopes in 46 soil samples both heavily and lightly contaminated by this accident were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and triple-quadrupole ICP-MS. The 236U activities and 236U/238U atom ratios in these soil samples were in the range of (0.469-24.4)?×?10-5?Bq?kg-1 and ((0.099-1.35)?×?10-7), respectively. Higher 240Pu/239Pu atom ratios (0.245-0.312) and 238Pu/239+240Pu activity ratios (0.859-1.62) indicated Pu contamination originated from this accident and global fallout in some samples. For those soil samples along with black substances collected along roads in Fukushima Prefecture, high linear correlations were presented between 236U activities and 239+240Pu activities (Pearson's r?=?0.755, p?<?0.01), and between 236U activities and 238Pu activities (Pearson's r?=?0.844, p?<?0.01). The analysis of these soil samples confirmed the release of 236U, although in trace amounts, during the FDNPP accident.
| S-EPMC5648813 | biostudies-other
Project description:The increase in risk for late-onset thyroid cancer due to radiation exposure is a potential health effect after a nuclear power plant accident mainly due to the release of radioiodine in fallout. The risk is particularly elevated in those exposed during infancy and adolescence. To estimate the possibility and extent of thyroid cancer occurrence after exposure, it is of utmost importance to collect and analyze epidemiological information providing the basis for evaluation of radiation risk, and to consider radiobiology and molecular genetics. In this regard, the dose-response of cancer risk, temporal changes in the rates of thyroid cancer, its histopathological types and subtypes, and frequency of underlying genetic abnormalities are important. At present, however, it is difficult or impossible to distinguish radiation-induced thyroid cancer from spontaneous/sporadic thyroid cancer because molecular radiation signatures, biomarkers of radiation exposure, or genetic factors specific to radiation-induced cancer have not yet been identified. The large-scale ultrasound screening in Fukushima Prefecture of Japan demonstrated a high detection rate of thyroid cancer in young individuals, revealing 116 and 71 cases in the first and second rounds, respectively, among the same cohort of approximately 300,000 subjects. These findings raised concerns among residents and the public that it might be due to putative exposure to radiation from the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This review summarizes evaluations by international organizations and reviews scientific publications by the authors and others on childhood thyroid cancer, especially those relevant to radiation, including basic studies on molecular mechanisms of thyroid carcinogenesis. Clinical details are also provided on surgical cases in Fukushima Prefecture, and the effect of thyroid ultrasound screening is discussed. Correct understanding of issues relating to radiation and the thyroid are essential for interpretation of thyroid cancer in Fukushima.
| S-EPMC5770131 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Understanding the actual situation of radiocesium (137Cs) contamination of trees caused by the Fukushima nuclear accident is essential for predicting the future contamination of wood. Particularly important is determining whether the 137Cs dynamics within forests and trees have reached apparent steady state. We conducted a monitoring survey of four major tree species (Japanese cedar, Japanese cypress, konara oak, and Japanese red pine) at multiple sites. Using a dynamic linear model, we analyzed the temporal trends in 137Cs activity concentrations in the bark (whole), outer bark, inner bark, wood (whole), sapwood, and heartwood during the 2011-2020 period. The activity concentrations were decay-corrected to September 1, 2020, to exclude the decrease due to the radioactive decay. The 137Cs concentrations in the whole and outer bark samples showed an exponential decrease in most plots but a flat trend in one plot, where 137Cs root uptake is considered to be high. The 137Cs concentration ratio (CR) of inner bark/sapwood showed a flat trend but the CR of heartwood/sapwood increased in many plots, indicating that the 137Cs dynamics reached apparent steady state within one year in the biologically active parts (inner bark and sapwood) and after several to more than 10 years in the inactive part (heartwood). The 137Cs concentration in the whole wood showed an increasing trend in six plots. In four of these plots, the increasing trend shifted to a flat or decreasing trend. Overall, the results show that the 137Cs dynamics within forests and trees have reached apparent steady state in many plots, although the amount of 137Cs root uptake in some plots is possibly still increasing 10 years after the accident. Clarifying the mechanisms and key factors determining the amount of 137Cs root uptake will be crucial for predicting wood contamination.
| S-EPMC9253084 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A primary health concern among residents and evacuees in affected areas immediately after a nuclear accident is the internal exposure of the thyroid to radioiodine, particularly I-131, and subsequent thyroid cancer risk. In Japan, the natural disasters of the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed an important function of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1-NPP) and a large amount of radioactive material was released to the environment. Here we report for the first time extensive measurements of the exposure to I-131 revealing I-131 activity in the thyroid of 46 out of the 62 residents and evacuees measured. The median thyroid equivalent dose was estimated to be 4.2 mSv and 3.5 mSv for children and adults, respectively, much smaller than the mean thyroid dose in the Chernobyl accident (490 mSv in evacuees). Maximum thyroid doses for children and adults were 23 mSv and 33 mSv, respectively.
| S-EPMC3395030 | biostudies-other
Project description:Here we present the first report of a carbon-?-Fe?O? nanoparticle composite of mesoporous carbon, bearing COOH- and phenolic OH- functional groups on its surface, a remarkable and magnetically separable adsorbent, for the radioactive material emitted by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Contaminated water and soil at a level of 1,739?Bq kg(-1) ((134)Cs and (137)Cs at 509?Bq kg(-1) and 1,230?Bq kg(-1), respectively) and 114,000?Bq kg(-1) ((134)Cs and (137)Cs at 38,700?Bq kg(-1) and 75,300?Bq kg(-1), respectively) were decontaminated by 99% and 90% respectively with just one treatment carried out in Nihonmatsu city in Fukushima. Since this material is remarkably high performance, magnetically separable, and a readily applicable technology, it would reduce the environmental impact of the Fukushima accident if it were used.
| S-EPMC4131215 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background After the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, an increase in the incidence of congenital heart disease ( CHD s) in the neighboring countries was reported. In 2011, Japan experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accidents at Fukushima. However, a nationwide study of their effects has not been conducted yet. Methods and Results We used data covering the period between 2007 and 2014 from the annual surveys conducted by the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery, which included almost all of the operations pertaining to 46 types of CHD s in Japan. CHD s were divided into 2 groups based on complexity, the time of occurrence during heart development, and age at operation. We estimated the change in the number of the operations per 100 000 live births between pre- and postdisaster using a negative binomial generalized linear mixed model. Overall, a significant 14.2% (95% CI, 9.3-19.4) increase in the number of operations for complex CHD s in neonates and infants per 100 000 live births was found, whereas those performed for patients of 1 to 17 years old showed no significant change during the study period. Conclusions The number of operations for complex CHD s in neonates and infants in Japan significantly increased after the massive disaster, and its level was maintained thereafter. The number of operations for complex CHD was not equal but closely correlated to the live birth prevalence of complex CHD s. Therefore, some meaningful increase in the live birth prevalence can be assumed; however, the precise cause of the increase is unknown.
| S-EPMC6475040 | biostudies-literature