Records of the riverine discharge of I in riverbank sediment after the Fukushima accident

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

This study investigated the transport behavior of I by riverbank surveys conducted from 2013 to 2015 in a watershed where the I/Cs activity ratio is low in the mountainous area and high in the plain as of 2011. Until 2015, the I/Cs activity ratio of the levee crown in the studied watershed was similar to that of the surrounding area in 2011. However, the I/Cs ratios of the surface riverbank sediments were all low, indicating that radionuclides transported from the mountainous area were deposited on the riverbank in the plain. The vertical distribution of the I/Cs ratio in the riverbank sediments indicated that some I and Cs deposited during the accident remained in the lower layers, but most were eroded immediately after the accident. Based on the I/Cs ratios of sediments deposited on the riverbank, which remained constant until 2015 after the accident, the amount of I discharged to the ocean was determined from the previously evaluated Cs discharge. It was calculated that 1.810 Bq and 1.210 Bq of I were discharged with sediment from the studied watershed and the contaminated river watersheds (Abukuma River and Fukushima coastal rivers, including the study river), respectively. The results of this study indicate that the continuous I discharge from the river contribute little to their amount in the seafloor sediments along the Fukushima coast.