Xu, S., Freeman, S. P.H.T. , Hou, X., Watanabe, A., Yamaguchi, K. and Zhang, L. (2013) Iodine isotopes in precipitation: temporal responses to 129I emissions from the Fukushima nuclear accident. Environmental Science and Technology, 47(19), pp. 10851-10859. (doi: 10.1021/es401527q)
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Abstract
The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011 has released a large amount of radionuclides to the atmosphere, and the radioactive plume has been dispersed to a large area in Europe and returned to Asia. To explore long-term trend of the Fukushima-derived radioactive plume and the behavior of harmful radioiodine in the atmosphere, long-term precipitation samples have been collected over 2010–2012 at Fukushima, Japan for determination of long-lived <sup>129</sup>I. It was observed that <sup>129</sup>I concentrations of 1.2 × 108 atom/L in 2010 before the accident dramatically increased by 4 orders of magnitude to 7.6 × 1011 atom/L in March 2011 immediately after the accident, with a <sup>129</sup>I/<sup>127</sup>I ratio up to 6.9 × 10–5. Afterward, the <sup>129</sup>I concentrations in precipitation decreased exponentially to 3 × 109 atom/L by October 2011 with a half-life of about 29 days. This declining trend of <sup>129</sup>I concentrations in precipitation was interrupted around October 2011 by a new input of <sup>129</sup>I to the atmosphere following a second exponential decrease. Such a cycle has occurred three times until the present. This temporal variation can be attributed to alternating <sup>129</sup>I dispersion and resuspension from the contaminated local environment. A <sup>129</sup>I/<sup>131</sup>I atomic ratio of 16 ± 1 obtained from rainwater samples is comparable with a value estimated for surface soil samples. <sup>129</sup>I results from Denmark suggest an insignificant effect of <sup>129</sup>I released from Fukushima to the <sup>129</sup>I levels in Europe.
Item Type: | Articles |
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Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Xu, Dr Sheng and Freeman, Professor Stewart |
Authors: | Xu, S., Freeman, S. P.H.T., Hou, X., Watanabe, A., Yamaguchi, K., and Zhang, L. |
College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre |
Journal Name: | Environmental Science and Technology |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
ISSN: | 0013-936X |
ISSN (Online): | 1520-5851 |
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