Predominant processes of for transport of radiocaesium, released by the TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Niizato, Tadafumi  ; Ishii, Yasuo; Abe, Hironobu ; Watanabe, Takayoshi ; Sasaki, Yoshito 

Understanding the environmental dynamics of the radiocaesium (particularly Cs-134 and 137) released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant provides the firm foundation for a remediation of the Fukushima environment because it is the main radionuclide to radiological dose within the contaminated area. One of the main sources of radiocaesium under the current situation is a mountain forest, where the decontamination work has not been carried out as yet. Therefore, transport process, flux and chemical form of the radiocaesium flowing from the mountain forest are crucial issues for an evaluation of a radiation exposure, taking into a dynamics behavior of radiocaesium from the highest contaminated mountain forests down through the river to eventual deposition in the sea. This paper discusses the predominant process of the radiocaesium transport in the mountainous region, Fukushima, Japan.