Using spectrocolourimetry to trace sediment source dynamics in coastal catchments draining the main Fukushima radioactive pollution plume (2011–2017)

Evrard, Olivier; Durand, Roxanne; Foucher, Anthony; Tiecher, Tales; Sellier, Virginie; Onda, Yuichi; Lefevre, Irène; Cerdan, Olivier; Laceby, J. Patrick

doi:10.1007/s11368-019-02302-w

Cited by 25 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Fukushima region over a longer time period (from November 2011 to November 2017) where a mean of 24% (SD, 21%) of the material transiting these systems was modelled to be derived from forested landscapes (Evrard et al, 2019). Cumulatively, these results demonstrate that forested landscapes represent a potential long-term source of particulate contaminated matter that likely will require diligent management for the foreseeable future.…”

Section: Perspectives For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Although this practice has not been specifically investigated in the literature, decontamination of farmland in the Fukushima fallout-impacted region was not limited to the removal of the 5-cm topsoil layer concentrating the radiocesium. After this first step, a layer of crushed granite, extracted from local quarries dedicated to decontamination, is used to replace the removed soil layer (Evrard et al, 2019). The entire soil profile consisting of the residual initial soil (in depth) and this crushed granite layer (on top) is then thoroughly mixed to prepare the soil for recultivation with the objective being to further dilute the residual radiocesium activities in the soil (Figure 3).…”

Section: Soil/farmland Decontaminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Strategies and effectiveness of land decontamination in the region affected by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident: A review

Evrard¹,

Laceby²,

Nakao³

2019

Preprint

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Abstract. The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in March 2011 resulted in the contamination of Japanese landscapes with radioactive fallout. Accordingly, the Japanese authorities decided to conduct extensive remediation activities in the impacted region to allow for the relatively rapid return of the local population. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the decontamination strategies and their potential effectiveness in Japan, focussing on particle-bound radiocesium. In the Fukushima Prefecture, the decision was taken to decontaminate the fallout-impacted landscapes in November 2011 for the 11 municipalities evacuated after the accident (Special Decontamination Zones – SDZ, 1117 km2) and for the 40 non-evacuated municipalities affected by lower, although still significant, levels of radioactivity (Intensive Contamination Survey Areas, 7836 km2). Decontamination activities predominantly targeted agricultural landscapes and residential areas. No decontamination activities are currently planned for the majority of forested areas, which cover ~ 75 % of the main fallout-impacted region. Research investigating the effectiveness of decontamination activities underlined the need to undertake concerted actions at the catchment scale to avoid the renewed supply of contamination from the catchment headwaters after the completion of remediation activities. Although the impact of decontamination on the radioactive dose rates for the local population remains a subject of debate in the literature and in the local communities, outdoor workers in the SDZ represent a group of the local population that may exceed the long-term dosimetric target of 1 mSv yr−1. Decontamination activities generated ~ 20 million m3 of soil waste by early 2019. The volume of waste generated by decontamination may be decreased through incineration of combustible material and recycling of the less contaminated soil for civil engineering structures. However, most of this material will have to be stored for ~ 30 years at interim facilities opened in 2017 in the close vicinity of the FDNPP before being potentially transported to final disposal sites outside of the Fukushima Prefecture. Further research is required to investigate the perennial contribution of radiocesium from forest sources. In addition, the re-cultivation of farmland after decontamination raises additional questions associated with the fertility of remediated soils and the potential transfer of residual radiocesium to the plants. Overall, we believe it is important to synthesize the remediation lessons learnt following the FDNPP nuclear accident, which could be fundamental if a similar catastrophe occurs somewhere on Earth in the future.

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Section: Perspectives For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Soil/farmland Decontaminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies and effectiveness of land decontamination in the region affected by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident: A review

Evrard¹,

Laceby²,

Nakao³

2019

Preprint

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“…In closing, Batista et al (2019) argue that the use of knowledge-based techniques to select fingerprints for modeling will encourage researchers to further develop their understanding of processes that drive erosion and sediment geochemistry across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Evrard et al (2019a) use colorimetric fingerprints to investigate the contribution of different erosion processes to material transiting the Mano and Niida catchments in the Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The authors demonstrated that erosion processes on cultivated landscapes supplied the majority of sediment (56%) to the river networks followed by subsoil sources (including decontaminated materials-26%) and forest sources (21%).…”

Section: Sediment Source Fingerprinting In the Critical Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

Preface—evaluating the response of critical zone processes to human impacts with sediment source fingerprinting

et al. 2019

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“…In particular, the colorimetric parameters derived from the visible spectrum have been shown to be effective in discriminating sediment sources. Their discrimination power has been tested both individually (Evrard et al, 2019;Martínez-Carreras et al, 2010;Uber et al, 2019) and in combination with other tracers (e.g. geochemical properties (Tiecher et al, 2015)) according to the conventional fingerprinting approach (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining colour parameters and geochemical tracers to improve sediment source discrimination in a mining catchment (New Caledonia, South Pacific Islands)

Sellier¹,

Navratil²,

Laceby³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Over the last century, human activities have induced significant land-cover changes that have accelerated soil erosion processes around the world. In New Caledonia, a French island located in the south-west Pacific Ocean, open-cast nickel mining has raised many concerns regarding its impact on riverine systems (i.e. hyper-sedimentation, overburden) and the island's ecosystems (i.e. flooding, lagoon siltation, water pollution). A sediment tracing study has been conducted to quantify the contribution of mining versus non-mining sub-catchments in one of the first areas exploited for nickel mining, the Thio River catchment (397 km2). Sediment deposited during two cyclonic events (i.e. 2015 and 2017) was collected following a tributary design approach. Source (n = 24) and river sediment (n = 19) samples were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence and spectroscopy in the visible spectra (i.e. 365–735 nm). Four fingerprinting approaches based on (1) colour parameters, (2) geochemical properties, (3) colour parameters coupled with geochemical properties and (4) the entire visible spectrum were tested to estimate sediment source contributions. The results demonstrated that the individual sediment tracing methods based on spectroscopy measurements (i.e. (1) and (4)) did not provide sufficient discrimination between sources. However, the inclusion of colour properties in addition to geochemical parameters (3) provided the highest discrimination between sources (i.e. 92.6 % of source variance explained). Although with a slightly lower discrimination potential (i.e. 83.1 % of variance explained in sources), the geochemical approach (2) provided similar results to those obtained with the colour coupled with geochemical approach (3). In addition, mixed linear models associated with these two approaches have been experimentally validated with artificial mixture samples. The results obtained with model (3) showed that mining source contributions strongly dominated the sediments inputs with a mean contribution of 68 % (SD 25 %) for the 2015 flood event and 88 % (SD 8 %) for the 2017 flood event. These results suggest that catchment management should focus on the contributions of mining tributaries to reduce sediment inputs in the river systems. Therefore, the use of these approaches based on geochemical properties individually (2) and coupled to colour parameters (3) could be extended to other mining catchments of New Caledonia but also to other similar nickel mining catchments around the world (e.g. Australia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Cuba) to estimate sediment source apportionment.

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Using spectrocolourimetry to trace sediment source dynamics in coastal catchments draining the main Fukushima radioactive pollution plume (2011–2017)

Abstract: Using spectrocolorimetry to trace sediment source dynamics in coastal catchments draining the 3 main Fukushima radioactive pollution plume (2011-2017) 4

Cited by 25 publications

References 47 publications

Strategies and effectiveness of land decontamination in the region affected by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident: A review

Strategies and effectiveness of land decontamination in the region affected by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident: A review

Preface—evaluating the response of critical zone processes to human impacts with sediment source fingerprinting

Combining colour parameters and geochemical tracers to improve sediment source discrimination in a mining catchment (New Caledonia, South Pacific Islands)

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