Prediction of groundwater contamination with 137Cs and 131I from the Fukushima nuclear accident in the Kanto district.
We measured the concentrations of (131)I, (134)Cs, and (137)Cs released from the Fukushima nuclear accident in soil and rainwater samples collected March 30-31, 2011, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Kanto district, bordering Fukushima Prefecture to the south. Column experiments revealed that all (131)I in rainwater samples was adsorbed onto an anion-exchange resin. However, 30% of (131)I was not retained by the resin after it passed through a soil layer, suggesting that a portion of (131)I became bound to organic matter from the soil. The (137)Cs migration rate was estimated to be approximately 0.6 mm/y in the Kanto area, which indicates that contamination of groundwater by (137)Cs is not likely to occur in rainwater infiltrating into the surface soil after the Fukushima accident.
Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kitaku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan. tomoohta@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
Tomoko
T
Ohta
Yasunori
Y
Mahara
Takumi
T
Kubota
Satoshi
S
Fukutani
Keiko
K
Fujiwara
Koichi
K
Takamiya
Hisao
H
Yoshinaga
Hiroyuki
H
Mizuochi
Toshifumi
T
Igarashi
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D005843:Geography; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D049674:History, 21st Century; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D007564:Japan; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release / Q000266:history* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011891:Rain / Q000737:chemistry; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D057192:Tsunamis; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D012987:Soil; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive