Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-jwnkl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T17:23:49.414Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Background Concentration of 14C in Aquatic Samples from Brackish Lake Obuchi, Rokkasho, Japan, Adjacent to Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facilities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Shinji Ueda ,
Kunio Kondo  and
Jiro Inaba
Shinji Ueda*
Affiliation:
Department of Radioecology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, 1-7 Rokkasho, Aomori 039-3212, Japan
Kunio Kondo
Affiliation:
Department of Radioecology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, 1-7 Rokkasho, Aomori 039-3212, Japan
Jiro Inaba
Affiliation:
Department of Radioecology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, 1-7 Rokkasho, Aomori 039-3212, Japan
*
Corresponding author. Email: sueda@ies.or.jp.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The brackish Lake Obuchi in Rokkasho, Japan, is adjacent to the first Japanese commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, which are now undergoing performance testing, with commercial operation scheduled to start in 2007. Preparatory surveys were made by measuring the background levels of radiocarbon for water, aquatic biota, and sediment samples using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) in order to study the potential effects of 14C released by the plant to the 14C concentration in aquatic samples. Concentrations of 14C in Futamata River in 2004 ranged from 102 ± 0.5 to 109 ± 0.6 pMC (average 106 ± 0.6 pMC), while 14C concentrations in brackish water from Lake Obuchi and in seawater were 89 ± 0.5 to 104 ± 0.4 pMC (average 98 ± 0.5 pMC) and 82 ± 0.6 to 102 ± 0.4 pMC (average 93 ± 0.5 pMC), respectively. The relationship between 14C concentration and salinity showed a negative correlation (r = 0.68, P < 0.01, n = 20). 14C concentration in selected aquatic biota (i.e. fish, benthos, and seagrass) from 2003 to 2004 ranged from 105 ± 0.7 to 107 ± 0.6 pMC and in zooplankton and phytoplankton was 103 ± 2.4 to 105 ± 1.7 pMC. The depth profile of 14C in 3 core sediment samples from Lake Obuchi showed maximum concentrations from 103 ± 0.5 to 106 ± 0.5 pMC at 5–20 cm depth. The vertical profile of 14C concentration in the sediment did not follow global atmospheric 14C fallout. We confirmed that the background level of 14C concentration in aquatic samples in brackish Lake Obuchi before operation of the reprocessing plant was similar to the concentration (∼106 pMC) in the recent atmosphere.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , 2007 , pp. 159 - 169
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Aomori Prefecture. 2006. Report of behavior of radionuclides in aquatic environment in Aomori. 189 p. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Bergan, TD. 2002. Radioactive fallout in Norway from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 60:189–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cook, GT, Begg, FH, Naysmith, P, Scott, EM, McCartney, M. 1995. Anthropogenic 14C marine geochemistry in the vicinity of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Radiocarbon 37(2):459–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, GT, Mackenzie, AB, McDonald, P, Jones, SR. 1997. Remobilization of Sellafield-derived radionuclides and transport from the north-east Irish Sea. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 35:227–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fievet, B, Voiseux, C, Rozet, M, Masson, M, Bailly du Bois, P. 2006. Transfer of radiocarbon liquid releases from the AREVA La Hague spent fuel reprocessing plant in the English Channel. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 90:173–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fontugne, M, Maro, D, Baron, Y, Hatté, C, Hebert, C, Douville, E. 2004. 14C sources and distribution in the vicinity of La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant: part I—terrestrial environment. Radiocarbon 46(2):827–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited [JNFL]. 2002. An application of alteration permission of a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility, Japan [internal report]. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Kondo, K, Ueda, S, Chikuchi, Y, Kawabata, H, Akata, N, Hasegawa, H, Mitamura, O, Seike, Y. 2004. Effect of salinity on biological concentrations of 137Cs in phytoplankton inhabited in brackish Lake Obuchi, Japan, bordered by nuclear fuel facilities. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 261:559–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maro, D, Fontugne, M, Hatte, C, Hebert, C, Rozel, M. 2004. 14C sources and distribution in the vicinity of La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant: part II—marine environment. Radiocarbon 46(2):831–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCartney, M, Kershaw, PJ, Woodhead, DS, Denoon, DC. 1994. Artificial radionuclides in the surface sediments of the Irish Sea, 1968–1988. Science of the Total Environment 141:103–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGeehin, J, Burr, GS, Hodgins, G, Bennett, SJ, Robbins, JA, Morehead, N, Markewich, H. 2004. Stepped-combustion 14C dating of bomb carbon in lake sediment. Radiocarbon 46(2):893–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minagawa, M, Winter, DA, Kaplan, IR. 1984. Comparison of kjeldahl and combustion methods for measurement of nitrogen isotope ratios in organic matter. Analytical Chemistry 56:1859–961.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakamura, T, Nakai, N. 1988. Fundamentals of radiocarbon dating with accelerator mass spectrometry. Memoirs of the Geological Society of Japan 29:83–106. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Nakamura, T, Kojima, S, Ohta, T, Oda, H, Ikeda, A, Okuno, M, Yokota, K, Mizutani, Y, Kretschmer, W. 1998. Isotopic analysis and cycling of dissolved inorganic carbon at Lake Biwa, central Japan. Radiocarbon 40(2):933–44.Google Scholar
Nydal, R, Lovseth, K. 1983. Tracing bomb C-14 in the atmosphere 1962–1980. Journal of Geophysical Research 88:3621–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M. 1983. International agreements and the use of the new oxalic acid standard. Radiocarbon 25(2):793–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Polach, HA. 1977. Discussion: reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3):355–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Reimer, PJ, Braziunas, TF. 1998. High-precision radiocarbon age calibration for terrestrial and marine samples. Radiocarbon 40(3):1127–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ueda, S, Hasegawa, H, Kondo, K. 1999. Concentration and speciation of 137Cs in the surface sediments in brackish Lake Obuchi, Rokkasho Village. Radioisotopes 48:683–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ueda, S, Kawabata, H, Hasegawa, H, Kondo, K. 2000. Characteristics of fluctuations in salinity and water quality in brackish Lake Obuchi. Limnology 1:57–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ueda, S, Kondo, K, Chikuchi, Y, Seike, Y, Mitamura, O. 2004a. Occurrence characteristics of phytoplankton in brackish Lake Obuchi, Japan. Japanese Journal of Limnology 65:27–35.Google Scholar
Ueda, S, Ohtsuka, Y, Kondo, K. 2004b. Inventories of 239+240Pu, 137Cs, and excess 210Pb in sediment cores from brackish Lake Obuchi, Rokkasho Village, Japan. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 261:277–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ueda, S, Kakiuchi, H, Kondo, K, Inaba, J. 2006. Tritium concentration in fresh, brackish and sea-water samples in Rokkasho Village, Japan, bordered by nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Journal Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 267:29–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation [UNSCEAR]. 2000. Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, UNSCEAR 2000 Report to the General Assembly, with Scientific Annexes. Volume I. New York: United Nations. p 1–658.Google Scholar
Vogel, JS, Southon, JR, Nelson, DE, Brown, TA. 1984. Performance of catalytically condensed carbon for use in accelerator mass spectrometry. Nuclear Instrument and Methods in Physics Research B 5:289–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamada, Y, Yasuike, K, Komura, K. 2005. Temporal variation of carbon-14 concentration in tree-ring cellulose for the recent 50 years. Journal of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences 6:135–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar