Impact of extreme typhoon events on the fluvial discharge of particulate radiocesium in Fukushima Prefecture

Nakanishi, Takahiro   ; Oyama, Takuya ; Hagiwara, Hiroki  ; Sakuma, Kazuyuki   

The two huge typhoons in 2019, Hagibis and Bualoi, caused enormous flood damage to Fukushima. On the basis of field observations over 6 years in Ukedo River near the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, sediment and Cs discharges from the river catchment were quantitatively evaluated. Approximately 90% of annual sediment and Cs discharges in 2019 was occupied during the typhoons Hagibis and Bualoi events. This sediment discharge was almost twice than the discharge during the largest ever flood event since the Fukushima nuclear accident, caused by typhoon Etau in September 2015. However, Cs discharge during Hagibis and Bualoi events was two-thirds that of Etau event, because the particulate Cs concentration in river water decreased during the observation period. Moreover, Cs discharge during two typhoon events in 2019 accounted for only 0.1% of the catchment Cs deposition and the impact of radiocesium to the coastal area was extremely limited.