Vertical Distribution of Radiocesium in Soils of the Area Affected by the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accidentстатья
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Аннотация:Presented are results of the study of radiocesium vertical distribution in the soils of the irrigation
pond catchments in the near field 0.25 to 8 km from the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP, on sections of the Niida
River floodplain, and in a forest ecosystem typical of the territory contaminated after the accident. It is shown
that the vertical migration of radiocesium in undisturbed forest and grassland soils in the zone affected by the
Fukushima accident is faster than it was in the soils of the 30-km zone of the Chernobyl NPP for a similar
time interval after the accident. The effective dispersion coefficients in the Fukushima soils are several times
higher than those for the Chernobyl soils. This may be associated with higher annual precipitation (by about
2.5 times) in Fukushima as compared to the Chernobyl zone. In the forest soils the radiocesium dispersion is
faster as compared to grassland soils, both in the Fukushima and Chernobyl zones. The study and analysis of
the vertical distribution of the Fukushima origin radiocesium in the Niida gawa floodplain soils has made it
possible to identify areas of contaminated sediment accumulation on the floodplain. The average accumulation
rate for sediments at the study locations on the Niida gawa floodplain varied from 0.3 to 3.3 cm/year.
Taking into account the sediments accumulation leading to an increase in the radiocesium inventory in alluvial
soils is key for predicting redistribution of radioactive contamination after the Fukushima accident on the
river catchments, as well as for decision-making on contaminated territories remediation and clean-up.
Clean-up of alluvial soils does not seem to be worthwhile because of the following accumulation of contaminated
sediments originating from more contaminated areas, including the exclusion zone.