Artificial Radionuclides in the Fukushima Nuclear Contaminated Water and Their Migration and Transformation Behaviors in the Marine Environment

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  • (1. State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; 2. Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resource, Xiamen Fujian 361005, China)
ZHANG Fule, Associate professor, research area includes isotopic oceanography. E-mail: zhangfule@tio.org.cn

Online published: 2024-01-17

Supported by

the Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Physical and Geological Processes (Grant No. KLMPG-22-01); The China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2022M723708).

Abstract

Abstract:On 24 August 2023, the Japanese government started the discharge of the Fukushima nuclear  contaminated water (FNCW) into the North Pacific, which will increase some radiation risks to the marine ecological environments. Here we analyzed the concentrations of the major artificial radionuclides in the FNCW and estimated their inventories. Based on the data provided by Tokyo Electric Power Company, we found that the concentrations of 3H in FNCW tanks as March 2023 ranged from 1.9×105 Bq/L to 25.0×105 Bq/L, significantly exceeding the maximum release concentration for 3H (6×104 Bq/L) allowed by Japanese law. Besides, the concentrations of 90Sr and 129I in some FNCW tanks were also higher than the corresponding maximum release concentrations (30 Bq/L for 90Sr and 9 Bq/L for 129I) allowed by Japanese law. The inventories of 3H and 129I in the FNCW before the discharge were estimated to be 0.9 PBq and 6.2×109 Bq, respectively, which were comparable to the leakage amounts of 3H (0.1~1.0 PBq) and 129I (6.9×109 Bq) to the ocean during the nuclear accident stage. We further discussed the migration and behavior of typical Fukushima radionuclides (e.g., 3H, 14C, 60Co, 90Sr, 129I, 134,137Cs and 239,240Pu) in the marine environments from three aspects: ①the transport of Fukushima radionuclides by ocean currents in the Pacific; ②sediment adsorption to radionuclides and ③marine biota uptake of radionuclides. This study is expected to provide some scientific foundations and insights for the radiation monitoring and risk assessment that may be required to respond to the discharge of FNCW.

Cite this article

ZHANG Fule, WANG Jinlong, HUANG Dekun, YU Tao, DU Jinzhou . Artificial Radionuclides in the Fukushima Nuclear Contaminated Water and Their Migration and Transformation Behaviors in the Marine Environment[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 0 : 1 . DOI: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2024.001

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