Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T23:39:55.468Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Variation of 14C in Japanese Tree Rings Related to the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2019

Tamás Varga Open the ORCID record for Tamás Varga [Opens in a new window] ,
László Palcsu ,
Tomoko Ohta ,
Yasunori Mahara ,
A J Timothy Jull Open the ORCID record for A J Timothy Jull [Opens in a new window]  and
Mihály Molnár
Tamás Varga*
Affiliation:
Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Atomki), P.O Box 51, Debrecen, H-4001, Hungary
László Palcsu
Affiliation:
Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Atomki), P.O Box 51, Debrecen, H-4001, Hungary
Tomoko Ohta
Affiliation:
Civil Engineering Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Japan School of Frontier Science, The University of Toyo, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan
Yasunori Mahara
Affiliation:
Kyoto University, Kyoto city, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
A J Timothy Jull
Affiliation:
Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Atomki), P.O Box 51, Debrecen, H-4001, Hungary Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721USA University of Arizona AMS Laboratory, Tucson, AZ 85721USA
Mihály Molnár
Affiliation:
Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Atomki), P.O Box 51, Debrecen, H-4001, Hungary
*
*Corresponding author. Email: varga.tamas@atomki.mta.hu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Radiocarbon (14C) analysis was performed on Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) tree rings from Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture. Our primary aim was to detect any 14C release from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident on 11 March 2011. We also completed and assessed the 14C level in Japanese tree rings for the period of 1990–2014 because of the lack of environmental 14C results in the Japanese island that time. For this reason, we used a trajectory model to investigate the air mass forward and backward trajectories at the area of the power plant and sampling site. The modeling data show that the air masses mainly moved to the Pacific Ocean, both during March 2011 and during the growing season (March–September). During the period 1990–2014 there was no significant 14C excess in any of the samples, but there was a detectable Suess effect in almost every tree ring sample. The average fossil contribution was 0.83 ± 0.01% and the calculated anthropogenic component ratio, the 14C excess varied between +0.5 and –1.6%. The Δ14C value decreased from 150.0‰ to 9.5‰ from 1990–2014, which follows the decline of the 14C bomb peak, in addition to any detectable Suess effect.

Keywords

FukushimaHYSPLITnuclear accidentradiocarbontree rings
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 61 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 1029 - 1040
Copyright
© 2019 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Buzinny, M. 2006. Radioactive graphite dispersion in the environment in the vicinity of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Radiocarbon 48(3):451–458.Google Scholar
Buzinny, MG, Los, IP, Talerko, N, Tsigankov, N. 1998. Radiocarbon analysis of annual tree rings from the vicinity of the Chernobyl NPP. Radiocarbon 40(1):373–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, B, Xu, S, Cook, G-T, Freeman, SPHT Hou, X, Naysmith, P, Yamaguchi, K. 2017. Local variance of atmospheric 14C concentrations around Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant from 2010 to 2012. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 314:1001–1007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chudy, M, Povinec, P. 1982. Radiocarbon production in a CO2 coolant of nuclear reactor. Acta Univ Comen Physica 22:127–134.Google Scholar
Davis, W. 1979. Carbon-14 production in reactor. In: Carter, MW, Moghissi, AA, Khan, B, editors. Management of low-level radioactive waste 1. Oxford: Pergamon Press. p. 151–191.Google Scholar
Draxler, RR, Hess, GD. 1998. An overview of the HYSPLIT_4 modeling system of trajectories, dispersion, and deposition. Australian Meteorological Magazine 47:295–308.Google Scholar
Graven, HD. 2015. Impact of fossil fuel emissions on atmospheric radiocarbon and various applications of radiocarbon over this century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112(31):9542–9545.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammer, S, Levin, I. 2017. Monthly mean atmospheric D14CO2 at Jungfraujoch and Schauinsland from 1986 to 2016, https://doi.org/10.11588/data/10100. heiDATA, V2; JFJ_SIL_C14_MM_2017_Mar.xlsx.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IAEA. 2001. Generic methods for use in assessing the impact of discharges of radioactive substances to the environment. Safety Report Series 19. Vienna.Google Scholar
Janovics, R, Futó, I, Molnár, M. 2018. Sealed tube combustion method with MnO2 for AMS 14C measurement. Radiocarbon 60(5):1347–1355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janovics, R, Kern, Z, Güttler, D, Wacker, L, Barnabás, I, Molnár, M. 2013. Radiocarbon impact on a nearby tree of a light-water VVER-type nuclear power plant, Paks, Hungary. Radiocarbon 55(2–3):826–832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ješkovsky, M, Povinec, PP, Steier, P, Šivo, A, Richtarikova, M, Golser, R. 2015. Retrospective study of 14C concentration in the vicinity of NPP Jaslovské Bohunice using tree rings and the AMS technique. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 361:129–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, I, Kromer, B, Schoch–Fischer, H, Bruns, M, Münnich, M, Berdau, D, Vogel, JC, Münnich, K. 1985. 25 years of tropospheric 14C observations in central Europe. Radiocarbon 27(1):1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levin, I, Kromer, B. 2004. The tropospheric 14CO2 level in mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (1959–2003). Radiocarbon 46(3):1261–1272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, I, Haszpra, L, Rinyu, L, Futó, I, Bihari, Á, Hammer, S, Molnár, M. 2018. Temporal variation of atmospheric fossil and modern CO2 excess at a Central European rural tower station between 2008 and 2014. Radiocarbon 60(5):1285–1299.Google Scholar
Molnár, M, Bujtás, T, Svingor, É, Futó, I, Svetlík, I. 2007. Monitoring of atmospheric excess 14C around Paks Nuclear Power Plant, Hungary. Radiocarbon 49(2):1031–1043.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molnár, M, Janovics, R, Major, I, Orsovszki, J, Gönczi, R, Veres, M, Leonard, AG, Castle, SM, Lange, TE, Wacker, L, Hajdas, I, Jull, AJ. 2013a. Status report of the new AMS 14C sample preparation lab of the Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies (Debrecen, Hungary). Radiocarbon 55(2–3):665–676.Google Scholar
Molnár, M, Rinyu, L, Veres, M, Seiler, M, Wacker, L, Synal, H-A. 2013b. EnvironMICADAS: A Mini 14C AMS with enhanced gas ion source interface in the Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies (HEKAL), Hungary. Radiocarbon 55(2–3):338–344.Google Scholar
Nemec, M, Wacker, L, Hajdas, I, Gäggeler, H. 2010. Alternative methods for cellulose preparation for AMS measurement. Radiocarbon 52(2–3):1358–1370.Google Scholar
Pirouzmand, A, Kowsar, Z, Dehghani, P. 2018. Atmospheric dispersion assessment of radioactive materials during severe accident conditions for Bushehr nuclear power plant using HYSPLIT code. Progress in Nuclear Energy 108:169–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Povinec, P, Chudy, M, Sivo, A. 1986. Anthropogenic radiocarbon: past, present, and future. Radiocarbon 28(2A):668–672.Google Scholar
Povinec, P, Kwong, LLW, Kaizer, J, Molnár, M, Nies, H, Palcsu, L, Papp, L, Pham, MK, Jean-Baptise, P. 2017. Impact of the Fukushima accident on tritium, radiocarbon, and radiocesium levels in seawater of the western North Pacific Ocean: a comparison with pre-Fukushima situation. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 166:56–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rinyu, L, Molnár, M, Major, I, Nagy, T, Veres, M, Kimák, Á, Wacker, L, Synal, H-A. 2013. Optimization of sealed tube graphitization method for environmental 14C studies using MICADAS. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 294:270–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, AF, Draxler, RR, Rolph, GD, Stunder, BJB, Cohen MD Ngan, F. 2015. NOAA’s HYSPLIT atmospheric transport and dispersion modeling system. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 96:2059–2077.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stenström, KE, Skog, G, Georgiadou, E, Grenberg, J, Johansson, A. 2011. A guide to radiocarbon units and calculations. Lund University (Sweden), Department of Physics, Division of Nuclear Physics Internal Report LUNFD6(NFFR–3111)/1–17/ (2011).Google Scholar
Su, L, Yuan, Z, Fung, JCH, Lau, AKH. 2015. A comparison of HYSPLIT backward trajectories generated from two GDAS datasets. Science of the Total Environment 506–507:527–537.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suess, HE. 1955. Radiocarbon concentration in modern wood. Science 122:415–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Theodórsson, P. 1991. Gas proportional versus liquid scintillation counting, radiometric versus AMS dating. Radiocarbon 33(1):9–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2017. Country analysis brief: Japan, independent statistics & analysis. Update: 2 February 2017. https://www.eia.gov/beta/international/%20289%20analysis_includes/countries_long/Japan/japan.pdfGoogle Scholar
Veres, M, Hertelendi, E, Uchrin, G, Csaba, E, Barnabás, I, Ormai, P, Volent, G, Futó, I. 1995. Concentration of radiocarbon and its chemical forms in gaseous effluents, environmental air, nuclear waste and primary water of a pressurized water reactor power plant in Hungary. Radiocarbon 37(2):497–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, S, Cook, GT, Cresswell, AJ, Dunbar, E, Freeman, SPHT, Hastie, H, Hou, X, Jacobsson, P, Naysmith, P, Sanderson, DCW. 2015. Radiocarbon concentration in modern tree rings from Fukushima, Japan. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 146:67–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xu, S, Cook, GT, Cresswell, AJ, Dunbar, E, Freeman, SPHT, Hou, X, Jacobsson, P, Knich, HR, Naysmith, P, Sanderson, DCW, Tripney, BG. 2016b. Radiocarbon releases from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. Scientific Reports 6:36947. doi 10.1038/srep36947(2016).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xu, S, Cook, GT, Cresswell, AJ, Dunbar, E, Freeman, SPHT, Hastie, H, Hou, X, Jacobsson, P, Naysmith, P, Sanderson, DCW, Tripney, BG, Yamaguchi, K. 2016a. 14C levels in the vicinity of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant prior the 2011 accident. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 157:90–96.Google Scholar
Yim, MS, Caron, F. 2006. Life cycle and management of carbon-14 from nuclear power generation. Progress in Nuclear Energy 48:2–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar