Observation of radioactive iodine ((131)I, (129)I) in cropland soil after the Fukushima nuclear accident.
During the early stages of the Fukushima nuclear accident, the temporal variations of (131)I deposited on the ground and of (131)I accumulated in cropland soil were monitored at a fixed location in Japan. Moreover, concentrations of long-lived radioactive iodine ((129)I) in atmospheric deposits and soil were measured to examine the feasibility of retrospectively reconstructing (131)I levels from the levels of accident-derived (129)I. The exceptionally high levels of (131)I in deposits and soil were attributed to rainfall-related deposition of radionuclides. In the crop field studied, the losses of deposited (131)I and (129)I due to volatilization were small. The atomic ratio (129)I/(131)I in the topsoil corresponded to the same ratio in deposits. The (131)I concentrations measured in the topsoil were very consistent with the (131)I concentrations reconstructed from the (129)I concentrations in the soil.
National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, 3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan. Electronic address: hfuji@affrc.go.jp.
Hideshi
H
Fujiwara
D001417:Background Radiation; D000072480:Farms; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D007564:Japan; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; C000614963:Iodine-129; C000614965:Iodine-131; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive
Iodine-129; Iodine-131; Nuclear accident; Radionuclides