Strontium-90 activity concentration in soil samples from the exclusion zone of the Fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant
説明
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The radioactive fission product <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr has a long biological half-life (˜18 y) in the human body. Due to its chemical similarity to calcium it accumulates in bones and irradiates the bone marrow, causing its high radio-toxicity. Assessing <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr is therefore extremely important in case of a nuclear disaster. In this work 16 soil samples were collected from the exclusion zone (<30 km) of the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, to measure <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr activity concentration using liquid scintillation counting. <jats:sup>137</jats:sup>Cs activity concentration was also measured with gamma-spectroscopy in order to investigate correlation with <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr. The <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr activity concentrations ranged from 3.0 ± 0.3 to 23.3 ± 1.5 Bq kg<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> while the <jats:sup>137</jats:sup>Cs from 0.7 ± 0.1 to 110.8 ± 0.3 kBq kg<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>. The fact that radioactive contamination originated from the Fukushima nuclear accident was obvious due to the presence of <jats:sup>134</jats:sup>Cs. However, <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr contamination was not confirmed in all samples although detectable amounts of <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr can be expected in Japanese soils, as a background, stemming from global fallout due to the atmospheric nuclear weapon tests. Correlation analysis between <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr and <jats:sup>137</jats:sup>Cs activity concentrations provides a potentially powerful tool to discriminate background <jats:sup>90</jats:sup>Sr level from its Fukushima contribution.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
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- Scientific Reports
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Scientific Reports 6 (1), 1-, 2016-04-06
Springer Science and Business Media LLC