All posts by fukushimainform

Algae, Biota, Cesium, Monitoring, NE Pacific

KelpWatch 2015 Monitoring: No Fukushima derived contamination May – June ’15

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Bull Kelp, or Nereocystis luetkeana
Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana)

By Jay T. Cullen

The purpose of this diary is to report the most recent results of Kelp Watch 2015, a program dedicated to monitoring for Fukushima derived contamination along the Pacific Coast of North America.  New results from the fourth sampling period (May 4 through June 10 2015)  were released on Dec. 8, 2015 and can be found here. As with previously reported results here, here, here and here no radioactive isotopes from Fukushima were detected in kelp growing at sampling sites along our Pacific coast.  The absence of 134Cs in kelp suggests that ocean transport of Fukushima contamination had yet to reach persistently high enough levels in North American coastal water to bioaccumulate in kelp. The scientific community expects that levels of contamination rise in coastal waters as predicted by measurements and models in the coming year Kelp Watch 2015 will help to track the arrival of the plume in time and space. Continue reading KelpWatch 2015 Monitoring: No Fukushima derived contamination May – June ’15 →

Cesium, Chernobyl, Fukushima, Humans, Japan, Peer Reviewed

External ionizing radiation doses of high school students in Japan, France, Poland and Belarus

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By Jay T. Cullen

Third-year science students H. Onodera and R. Suzuki, both 18, and second-year students M. Saito, Y. Fujiwara, both 17, and S. Anzai, 16 and their supervising teacher T. Hara, 57, took part in compiling the study.  They used citizen science deployed dosimeters to compare external radiation dose experience by students in different countries.
The purpose of this post to report on a peer-reviewed, open access study published in the Journal of Radiological Protection where high-school aged citizen scientists measured and compared the external ionizing radiation doses experienced by students in Japan, Belarus, France, and Poland. Adachi and colleagues equipped 216 high-school students in Japan (inside and outside Fukushima Prefecture), Belarus, France and Poland with an electronic dosimeter to estimate and compare annual external ionizing radiation doses in 2014.  The distribution of doses experienced in each region overlapped with each other indicating that personal external ionizing radiation exposure in Fukushima Prefecture and Belarus are within the range of annual doses from terrestrial background radiation in other locations.

Continue reading External ionizing radiation doses of high school students in Japan, France, Poland and Belarus →

Interviews, Presentations & Media

Update on Offshore Seawater Monitoring: Interview with CFAX 1070 AM

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Interview with Ian Jessop on CFAX 1070 AM Radio in Victoria about newly published offshore monitoring data from InFORM and our partner project Our Radioactive Ocean.  Interview begins at the 33:50 mark of the Soundcloud file below.

 

Monitoring, Oceanic

Update: Tracking the arrival of Fukushima derived contamination in the Pacific off North America

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By Jay T. Cullen

Previously unpublished data results from research expeditions in 2014 and 2015 are summarized here.  Overall the data indicate that:

  1. Fukushima derived radiocesium was first detected 1500 km west of British Columbia Canada in June 2012
  2. Contamination was detected on the continental shelf (near coastal waters) in June 2013
  3. By February 2014 Fukushima radiocesium was present at levels similar to preexisting weapons testing derived 137Cs
  4. The timing of the arrival and levels of radiocesium in the contaminated plume are in reasonable agreement with existing ocean circulation model predictions
  5. 134Cs, a unique indicator of Fukushima impact given its ~ 2 year half life, increased in 2014 and 2015 relative to previous years indicating that peak concentrations are likely to arrive in 2016
  6. Maximum combined radiocesium activities (137Cs + 134Cs) offshore as of summer 2015 are 11 Bq m-3 of seawater are about 8-10 fold less than maximum activities measured in the 1960’s due to weapons testing fallout. Current levels do not represent a significant risk to ecosystem or public health

Continue reading Update: Tracking the arrival of Fukushima derived contamination in the Pacific off North America →

Cesium, Fukushima, Iodine, Japan, Marine Life, Peer Reviewed

Contamination of freshwater fish by the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: Overview of monitoring results

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By Jay T. Cullen

Adult Oncorhynchus mykiss or rainbow trout. One of the species monitored for Fukushima derived radionuclides in the Wada et al. (2015) study.

The purpose of this post is to report the results of a monitoring study looking for Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) derived contamination in freshwater fishes in Japan.  The peer reviewed study by Wada and colleagues was recently published in Journal of Environmental Radioactivity which is unfortunately behind a publisher paywall.  This post continues a series of posts aimed at communicating the results of scientific investigations of the impact of the FDNPP disaster on public and environmental health.  Wada and colleagues measured the amount of 131-Iodine (131I half life ~ 8 days), 134-Cesium (134Cs half life ~2 years), and 137-Cesium (137Cs half life ~30 years) in freshwater fish species collected from rivers, lakes and aquaculture ponds in Fukushima Prefecture between March 2011 and December 2014.  A total of 16 species and 2692 individual fish were examined.  Between March and June 2011 11 fish were found to have detectable but low activities of 131I (<25 Bq kg-1 wet weight) suggesting that radioactive iodine did not accumulate significantly in fish.  Continue reading Contamination of freshwater fish by the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: Overview of monitoring results →