Abstract
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP) accident released large amounts of radioactive substances into the environment and contaminated the terrestrial and marine ecosystems in East Japan. The unpredicted nuclear accident is of global concern for human health and ecosystems. Investigations of radionuclides in the local environments were performed shortly after the accident began; however the temporal and spatial effects and variations in the released radionuclides on the natural environment remain unclear. In the present study, three-year (May 2011 to March 2014) fluctuations and accumulations of total Cs, 134Cs and 137Cs in freshwater fishes in Fukushima prefecture after the F1NPP accident were examined. The total Cs, 134Cs and 137Cs concentrations decreased gradually during the three-year period that followed the F1NPP accident. However higher levels, i.e., exceeding 100 Bq kg-1, which is the interim limit of radiocesium level in Japan, were detected in several fish species. Radiocesium accumulation patterns in fishes in Fukushima prefecture varied between regions and corresponded to the environmental radiocesium levels in the Fukushima region. These radionuclides are widely distributed and remain in the natural environment. Moreover, a fresh input of radiocesium substances from the F1NPP site into the terrestrial environment remains.
Highlights
A catastrophic earthquake and tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011, which caused destruction in northeastern Japan and severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP)
These results suggest that radiocesium accumulated in freshwater fishes in the regions surrounding Fukushima after the F1NPP accident
The present study showed that radiocesium accumulation gradually decreased during the three years after the F1NPP accident in Fukushima prefecture
Summary
A catastrophic earthquake and tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011, which caused destruction in northeastern Japan and severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP). The loss of power and the subsequent overheating, meltdowns, and hydrogen explosions at the F1NPP site resulted in airborne fallout over the land and the ocean that peaked in mid-March (Chino et al 2011; Morino et al 2011; Yasunari et al 2011). The F1NPP accident released a large amount of artificial radioactive fission products such as 131I, 134Cs, 137Cs, 239Pu and 240Pu from the nuclear reactors into the ambient environment. The uptake of such radionuclides into human bodies is of serious concern (Travnikova et al 2004; Rainbow 2007; Smith et al 2009). Monitoring the long-term behaviour of radionuclides in the environment is an important
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