Challenges for Fukushima environmental recovery; JAEA's perspective on radiocaesium distribution and behaviour in the environment

Miyahara, Kaname  

This presentation provides a concise overview of knowledge and experience gained from the activities for environmental remediation after the Fukushima Daiichi accident. The assessment of the natural behaviour of contaminant radionuclides in the environment is focused almost entirely on radiocaesium. Many of the conditions in Fukushima are similar to those following past contamination events in other countries, where natural self-cleaning alone has allowed recovery to such an extent that the original incident is now largely forgotten. Decontamination efforts in Japan will certainly accelerate this process. On-going remediation work is based on a good technical understanding of the movement of radiocaesium in the environment and this understanding is being translated into actions that enable the rapid return of evacuees and assures that they can safely resume their previous lifestyles. It does, however, need to be better communicated to the general public and other key stakeholders.