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Pre- and Post-Accident 14C Activities in tree rings near the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2019

Tetsuya Matsunaka Open the ORCID record for Tetsuya Matsunaka [Opens in a new window] ,
Kimikazu Sasa ,
Tsutomu Takahashi ,
Masumi Matsumura ,
Yukihiko Satou ,
Hongtao Shen ,
Keisuke Sueki  and
Hiroyuki Matsuzaki
Tetsuya Matsunaka*
Affiliation:
Low Level Radioactivity Laboratory, Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University, 24 O, Wake, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1224, Japan Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Group, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Kimikazu Sasa
Affiliation:
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Group, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Tsutomu Takahashi
Affiliation:
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Group, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Masumi Matsumura
Affiliation:
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Group, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Yukihiko Satou
Affiliation:
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Group, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 790-1 Otsuka, Motooka, Tomioka, Fukushima 979-1151, Japan
Hongtao Shen
Affiliation:
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Group, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan Department of Physics, Guangxi Normal University, 15 Yucai Road, Guilin 541004, P. R. China
Keisuke Sueki
Affiliation:
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Group, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Hiroyuki Matsuzaki
Affiliation:
The University Museum, The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. Email: matsunaka@se.kanazawa-u.ac.jp.
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Abstract

Areas affected by routine radiocarbon (14C) discharges from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) and accidental releases in March 2011 were investigated by analysis of cores from Japanese cypress and cedar trees growing at sites 9 and 24 km northwest of the plant. 14C concentrations in tree rings from 2008–2014 (before and after the accident) were determined by accelerator mass spectrometry, with 14C activities in the range 231–256 Bq kg−1 C. Activities during the period 2012–2014, after FDNPP shutdown, represent background levels, while the significantly higher levels recorded during 2008–2010, before the accident, indicate uptake of 14C from routine FDNPP operations. The mean excess 14C activity for the pre-accident period at the sites 9 and 24 km northwest of the plant were 21 and 12 Bq kg−1 C, respectively, indicating that the area of influence during routine FDNPP operations extended at least 24 km northwest. The mean excess tree-ring 14C activities in 2011 were 10 and 5.8 Bq kg−1 C at 9 and 24 km northwest, respectively, documenting possible impact of the FDNPP accident on 14C levels in trees.

Keywords

Effective DoseFukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plantradiocarbon releasetree rings
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 61 , Issue 6: Radiocarbon 2018 Conference Proceedings Trondheim, Norway, June 17–22, 2018 Part 2 of 2 , December 2019 , pp. 1633 - 1642
Copyright
© 2019 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 23rd International Radiocarbon Conference, Trondheim, Norway, 17–22 June, 2018

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