Wet deposition of fission-product isotopes to North America from the Fukushima Dai-ichi incident, March 2011

Environmental Science & Technology
By: , and 

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Abstract

Using the infrastructure of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP), numerous measurements of radionuclide wet deposition over North America were made for 167 NADP sites before and after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station incident of March 12, 2011. For the period from March 8 through April 5, 2011, wet-only precipitation samples were collected by NADP and analyzed for fission-product isotopes within whole-water and filterable solid samples by the United States Geological Survey using gamma spectrometry. Variable amounts of 131I, 134Cs, or 137Cs were measured at approximately 21% of sampled NADP sites distributed widely across the contiguous United States and Alaska. Calculated 1- to 2-week individual radionuclide deposition fluxes ranged from 0.47 to 5100 Becquerels per square meter during the sampling period. Wet deposition activity was small compared to measured activity already present in U.S. soil. NADP networks responded to this complex disaster, and provided scientifically valid measurements that are comparable and complementary to other networks in North America and Europe.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Wet deposition of fission-product isotopes to North America from the Fukushima Dai-ichi incident, March 2011
Series title Environmental Science & Technology
DOI 10.1021/es203217u
Volume 46
Issue 5
Year Published 2012
Language English
Publisher American Chemical Society
Contributing office(s) Branch of Quality Systems
Description 9 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Environmental Science and Technology
First page 2574
Last page 2582
Country United States
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