title: Low altitude unmanned aerial vehicle for characterising remediation effectiveness following the FDNPP accident.
abstract: On the 12th of March 2011, The Great Tōhoku Earthquake occurred 70 km off the eastern coast of Japan, generating a large 14 m high tsunami. The ensuing catalogue of events over the succeeding 12 d resulted in the release of considerable quantities of radioactive material into the environment. Important to the large-scale remediation of the affected areas is the accurate and high spatial resolution characterisation of contamination, including the verification of decontaminated areas. To enable this, a low altitude unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a lightweight gamma-spectrometer and height normalisation system was used to produce sub-meter resolution maps of contamination. This system provided a valuable method to examine both contaminated and remediated areas rapidly, whilst greatly reducing the dose received by the operator, typically in localities formerly inaccessible to ground-based survey methods. The characterisation of three sites within Fukushima Prefecture is presented; one remediated (and a site of much previous attention), one un-remediated and a third having been subjected to an alternative method to reduce emitted radiation dose.
authors.affiliation: Interface Analysis Centre, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TL, UK. Electronic address: peter.martin@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Interface Analysis Centre, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TL, UK.
authors.forename: O D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Payton
authors.affiliation: Interface Analysis Centre, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TL, UK.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Fardoulis
authors.affiliation: Bristol Isotope Group, School of Geography, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1SS, UK.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashiki
authors.affiliation: Interface Analysis Centre, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TL, UK.
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000401:Aircraft; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D007564:Japan; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive
keywords: Decontamination; Fukushima; Gamma-spectrometry; Remediation; UAV