Category Archives: Cesium

Algae, British Columbia, Cesium, Peer Reviewed

Kelp Watch 2015: Most Recent Results Looking for Fukushima Contamination

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By Jay T. Cullen

The Raincoast Education Society has partnered with the University of Victoria and California State University to carry out radionuclide sampling of sea water and kelp, respectively, in Clayoquot Sound. http://raincoasteducation.org/radiation-monitoring

 The purpose of this post is to report the most recent results of Kelp Watch 2015 , a program dedicated to monitoring for the presence of Fukushima contamination off our Pacific Coast. This post is the latest in a series dedicated to the public dissemination of information about the impacts of the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster on the health of the North Pacific Ocean ecosystem and health of North American residents. New results from the third sampling period (January through March 2015) of Kelp Watch 2015 were released on April 6, 2015 and can be found here. As with previously reported results here, here and here no radioactive isotopes from Fukushima were detected in kelp growing at sampling sites spread along our Pacific coast. The absence of 134Cs in kelp suggests that ocean transport of Fukushima contamination had yet to reach North American coastal water. As the contaminated water reaches the shoreline in the coming months Kelp Watch 2015 will help to track the arrival of the plume in time and space. Continue reading Kelp Watch 2015: Most Recent Results Looking for Fukushima Contamination →

Cesium, Fukushima, Japan, Marine Life, Peer Reviewed, Seawater, Strontium

Fukushima Radionuclides in Pacific: Doses to Japanese and World Public Unlikely to Cause Health Damage

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By Jay T. Cullen

The purpose of this post is to summarize a the most recent, peer reviewed scientific study to examine the likely impact of Fukushima contamination of the North Pacific on human health. The blog is part of a continuing series that seeks to communicate the results of scientific studies aimed at determining the impact of the triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) on ecosystem and public health. Povinec and Hirose’s recent paper in Scientific Reports examined the variation in Fukushima derived 90-Strontium (90Sr half life 28.8 years), 134-Cesium (134Cs half life ~2 years) and 137-Cesium (137Cs half life ~30 years) in seawater and biota offshore of the FDNPP and in the northwest Pacific. These isotopes are most likely to represent radiologically health risks to consumers of Pacific seafood given their propensity to concentrate in organisms and, in the case of 90Sr and 137Cs, their longevity in the environment. Doses to the Japanese and world population were estimated and compared to doses attributable to naturally occurring isotopes present in food. Doses from food caught in coastal waters right next to the FDNPP to 20 km offshore were similar to doses from naturally occurring isotopes (primarily 210Po) while doses from the consumption off fish caught in the open northwest Pacific were much lower than natural doses. In each case the individual doses are well below levels where any negative health effects would be measurable in Japan or elsewhere. Continue reading Fukushima Radionuclides in Pacific: Doses to Japanese and World Public Unlikely to Cause Health Damage →

Cesium, NW Pacific, Peer Reviewed, Seawater, Strontium

Dramatic Decrease of Fukushima Derived Radionuclides in the Northwest Pacific Ocean 2011-2012

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By Jay T. Cullen

A schematic view of the formation and subduction of mode waters in the North Pacific

The purpose of this diary is to report on a recently published (Jan 2015) open-access, peer reviewed study which examined the activities of 137Cs (half life 30.2 yr), 134Cs (half life ~2.1 yr) and 90Sr (half life ~28.8 yr) in the northwest Pacific off the coasts of Japan and China. The diary is part of a ongoing effort to communicate the results of scientific research into the impact of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster on environmental and public health. Men and colleagues report on how activities of these fission produced isotopes changed between three research expeditions in June 2011, December 2011 and June 2012. Activities in seawater decreased dramatically through time for all three isotopes consistent with very high release rates measured from the Fukushima site in March-April 2011 followed by ongoing but many orders of magnitude (10,000 – 100,000 fold) lower releases from the site thereafter. By 2012 the impact of the Fukushima releases could be still be detected in most samples for Cs isotopes however 90Sr distributions were much more uniform with the highest measured activity only slightly above the pre-Fukushima background. These results are consistent with:

  1. the relatively small source term for 90Sr from compared with the Cs isotopes from Fukushima as determined by measurements of air, soil and water after the disaster
  2. the much lower Fukushima derived activities for these isotopes in the eastern Pacific off of North America being measured given decay and mixing of the contamination as it is transported by ocean currents

Continue reading Dramatic Decrease of Fukushima Derived Radionuclides in the Northwest Pacific Ocean 2011-2012 →

British Columbia, Cesium, Monitoring, NE Pacific, Oceanic, Peer Reviewed, Seawater

Observing the Arrival of the Fukushima Contamination Plume in North American Coastal Waters

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By Jay T. Cullen

@JayTCullen and @FukushimaInFORM

This short blog summarizes an open access paper published today reporting results from a Canadian monitoring program tasked with documenting the arrival of ocean borne Fukushima contamination along the North American Pacific coast. This diary is part of an ongoing effort to communicate the best science available on the impacts of the Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdowns on the environment. High quality measurements to look for Fukushima derived radiocesium were made in seawater in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans from 2011 to early 2014. The authors concluded 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 137-Cs
  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. These same models predict that total radiocesium levels from weapons testing fallout and Fukushima will likely reach maximum values of ~3-5 Becquerel per cubic meter (Bq m-3 of seawater in 2015-2016 and then decline to fallout background level of ~1 Bq m-3 by 2021
  6. Fukushima will increase northeastern Pacific water to levels last seen in the 1980’s but does not represent a threat to environmental or human health

Continue reading Observing the Arrival of the Fukushima Contamination Plume in North American Coastal Waters →

Cesium, Japan, Marine Life, Peer Reviewed

Scientific Study of Radioactive Cesium Accumulation by Salmon

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By Jay T. Cullen

@JayTCullen and @FukushimaInFORM

Male spawning phase Oncorhynchus nerka. When landlocked (freshwater phase) this sockeye salmon is referred to as kokanee.

 

The purpose of this post is to report a recently published study (behind pay wall) that examined how and how much radioactive cesium is accumulated by salmonids (e.g. salmon and trout). This post is part of an series started in 2013 to communicate the results of scientific research into the impact of the Fukushima Dai-ichi triple meltdowns on the environment. Yamamoto and colleagues carried out two experiments (one lake cage experiment and a laboratory experiment) to examine the accumulation of radiocesium from water and food by kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) and masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou). The conclusions of the study were as follows:

Continue reading Scientific Study of Radioactive Cesium Accumulation by Salmon →