Radiocaesium dynamics in forested watersheds in Fukushima Prefecture

Taniguchi, Keisuke*; Takeuchi, Yukio*; Fujita, Kazuki*; Dohi, Terumi   ; Hayashi, Seiji*; Kuramoto, Takayuki*; Nomura, Naoki*; Aono, Tatsuo*

In Fukushima Prefecture, although decontamination has been completed except for difficult-to-return areas, most of the forest has not been decontaminated yet. From the forest, radiocaesium may enter rivers and affect downstream areas. A survey was conducted in three forested watersheds of the Nanokazawa, Saruta, Nuno rivers located in Fukushima Prefecture to understand the amount and characteristics of radiocaesium flowing out. In each watershed, suspended solids (SS) were collected by a suspended sand sampler, water was collected every few months, and the water level and flow rate were measured. After freeze-drying the SS sample, the concentration of suspended Cs-137 was measured by a germanium semiconductor detector. The water sample was filtered through a membrane filter with a pore size of 0.45 m, then the dissolved Cs-137 was collected by the solid-phase extraction disk method or AMP coprecipitation method, and the dissolved Cs-137 concentration was measured by a germanium semiconductor detector. The ranges of dissolved Cs-137 concentration in FY2019 were 69-190 mBq/L in the Saruta River, 9.7-16 mBq/L in the Nanokazawa river, and ND-3.2 mBq/L in the Nuno River. In the poster, we will also present the results of SS measurements and flow observations.