Fukushima Daiichi–Derived Radionuclides in the Ocean: Transport, Fate, and Impacts

Buesseler, Ken O.; Dai, Minhan; Aoyama, Michio; Benítez-Nelson, Claudia R.; Charmasson, Sabine; Higley, Kathryn A.; Maderich, Vladіmir; Masqué, Pere; Morris, Paul J.; Oughton, Deborah; Smith, J. N.

doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-010816-060733

Cited by 246 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 155 publications

(155 reference statements)

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“…6b, this leads to greater inventory and lower exchange with the water column at t [ t 1 . These conclusions agree with the suggestion of [6] that bioturbation may provide a continuing source of Fukushima Daiichi derived 137 Cs contamination at the sedimentwater interface over long timescales. However, for long timescales, slow reversible reactions in the sediments need to be considered [22].…”

Section: One-layer Model Of Bed Sediment Contaminationsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The suspended sediment concentration was stabilized after several days of simulation spin-up (t 0 ¼ 3days). Then, at period (t 0 t t 1 ), where t 1 ¼ 14days, the concentration of dissolved 137 Cs in the channel entrance was prescribed as 10 6 Bq m À3 , and after this time, at t 1 t, the concentration of 137 Cs in the entrance was zero. In exp.…”

Section: Radionuclide Transport In a Channel With Bottom Depressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An unprecedent release of radionuclides to the ocean occurred due to accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant (FDNPP) caused by the Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011 [6]. The released radionuclides were mostly diluted and transported eastward by currents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Migration of radioactivity in multi-fraction sediments

et al. 2017

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A new 3D radioactivity transport model coupled with multiscale circulation and multi-fractional sediment transport modules is presented. The sediment transport module simulates the transport of a mixture of one cohesive sediment fraction and a number of fractions of non-cohesive sediments of different sizes and densities. The model of radionuclide transport describes the key transport and exchange processes in the system of water-suspended and bottom multi-fraction sediments. Two-step kinetics with two successive reversible fast and slow reactions is used in the model. A noticeable feature of the model is approximation of the sediment and contamination profiles in the bed by multiple well-mixed layers to describe the vertical migration of radioactivity within bottom sediments due to erosion/deposition, molecular diffusion and bioturbation. The model accurately reproduced a laboratory experiment on the uptake of radiocesium by lake sediments. An analytical solution describing mutual adjustment of the concentrations of radioactivity in the pore water and in the multi-fraction sediment showed that activity was redistributed between different fractions of sediments far slower than between water and the total concentration in the sediment. The extended one-layer model of bottom contamination of multi-fraction sediments was derived from a general model and compared with a multilayer model. It was found, however, that the one-layer approximation was not capable of correctly predicting the inventory due to the fact that one-layer averaged concentration can essentially differ from the near-surface value in the multi-layer model. Radionuclide 123Environ Fluid Mech (2017) 17:1207-1231 DOI 10.1007 transport in channel with bottom depression was simulated to estimate the effects of erosion/deposition and the multi-fractionality of sediments on the transport process. It was shown that these factors affect the distribution of sediments by forming local maxima and minima of activity at the beginning and end of the depression, respectively, due to the redistribution of contaminated bottom sediments by flow. The developed model can also be used to simulate the transport of a wide class of toxic substances sorbed on sediments.

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Section: One-layer Model Of Bed Sediment Contaminationsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Radionuclide Transport In a Channel With Bottom Depressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Migration of radioactivity in multi-fraction sediments

et al. 2017

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“…More than 80% of the atmospheric fallout occurred over the ocean, with the highest deposition in the nearshore marine environment (4). In addition, direct liquid discharge of contaminated cooling water flowed into the ocean, making the FDNPP disaster the largest accidental input of radionuclides to the ocean (5).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Unexpected source of Fukushima-derived radiocesium to the coastal ocean of Japan

Sanial

Buesseler

Charette

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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There are 440 operational nuclear reactors in the world, with approximately one-half situated along the coastline. This includes the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), which experienced multiple reactor meltdowns in March 2011 followed by the release of radioactivity to the marine environment. While surface inputs to the ocean via atmospheric deposition and rivers are usually well monitored after a nuclear accident, no study has focused on subterranean pathways. During our study period, we found the highest cesium-137 (137Cs) levels (up to 23,000 Bq⋅m−3) outside of the FDNPP site not in the ocean, rivers, or potable groundwater, but in groundwater beneath sand beaches over tens of kilometers away from the FDNPP. Here, we present evidence of a previously unknown, ongoing source of Fukushima-derived 137Cs to the coastal ocean. We postulate that these beach sands were contaminated in 2011 through wave- and tide-driven exchange and sorption of highly radioactive Cs from seawater. Subsequent desorption of 137Cs and fluid exchange from the beach sands was quantified using naturally occurring radium isotopes. This estimated ocean 137Cs source (0.6 TBq⋅y−1) is of similar magnitude as the ongoing releases of 137Cs from the FDNPP site for 2013–2016, as well as the input of Fukushima-derived dissolved 137Cs via rivers. Although this ongoing source is not at present a public health issue for Japan, the release of Cs of this type and scale needs to be considered in nuclear power plant monitoring and scenarios involving future accidents.

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“…The combined inputs of fallout and direct discharges would amount to about 15-18 PBq (Aoyama et al, 2015;Inomata et al, 2016;Tsubono et al, 2016), which represent an increase by 22-27% of the existing 137 Cs in the North Pacific due to global fallout (Aoyama et al, 2015;Buesseler et al, 2017).…”

Section: State Of Knowledge On the Impact Of The Fdnpp Accident On Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine radioecology after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident: Are we better positioned to understand the impact of radionuclides in marine ecosystems?

Batlle

Aoyama

Bradshaw

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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This paper focuses on how a community of researchers under the COMET (CO-ordination and iMplementation of a pan European projecT for radioecology) project has improved the capacity of marine radioecology to understand at the process level the behaviour of radionuclides in the marine environment, uptake by organisms and the resulting doses after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident occurred in 2011. We present new radioecological understanding of the processes involved, such as the interaction of waterborne radionuclides with suspended particles and sediments or the biological uptake and turnover of radionuclides, which have been better quantified and mathematically described.We demonstrate that biokinetic models can better represent radionuclide transfer to biota in nonequilibrium situations, bringing more realism to predictions, especially when combining physical, chemical and biological interactions that occur in such an open and dynamic environment as the ocean. As a result, we are readier now than we were before the FDNPP accident in terms of having models that can be applied to dynamic situations.The paper concludes with our vision for marine radioecology as a fundamental research discipline and we present a strategy for our discipline at the European and international levels. The lessons learned 2 are presented along with their possible applicability to assess/reduce the environmental consequences of future accidents to the marine environment and guidance for future research, as well as to assure sustainability of marine radioecology in Europe and globally. This guidance necessarily reflects on why and where further research funding is needed, signalling the way for future investigations.3

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Fukushima Daiichi–Derived Radionuclides in the Ocean: Transport, Fate, and Impacts

Cited by 246 publications

References 155 publications

Migration of radioactivity in multi-fraction sediments

Migration of radioactivity in multi-fraction sediments

Unexpected source of Fukushima-derived radiocesium to the coastal ocean of Japan

Marine radioecology after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident: Are we better positioned to understand the impact of radionuclides in marine ecosystems?

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