Outline of the activity report of the Emergency Monitoring Committee

Hosoda, Masahiro*; Omori, Yasutaka*; Orita, Makiko*; Saito, Kimiaki; Sanada, Tetsuya*; Takeda, Hikaru*; Tani, Kotaro*; Tsujiguchi, Takakiyo*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Hokama, Tomonori; et al.

Hoken Butsuri (Internet), 59(4), p.206 - 207, 2024/12

https://doi.org/10.5453/jhps.59.206

no abstracts in English

Radiation exposure to the lens of the eye for Japanese nuclear power plant workers

Yokoyama, Sumi*; Tatsuzaki, Hideo*; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Yoshitomi, Hiroshi; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Aoki, Katsunori; Tachiki, Shuichi*; Ezaki, Iwao*; Hoshi, Katsuya; Tsujimura, Norio

Journal of Radiological Protection, 42(3), p.031504_1 - 031504_17, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/ac7913

In Japan, the radiation-dose limit for the lens of the eye was revised in April 2021. Consequently, for workers, the numerical values of the equivalent dose to the lens of the eye are equal to those of the effective dose. Radiation workers, radiation safety officers and licensees must comply with regulations related to radiation protection and optimize protection. The new guidelines on dose monitoring of the lens of the eye developed by the Japan Health Physics Society recommend for the dose to be estimated near the eye for accurate estimation, when the dose to the lens approaches or exceeds the management criteria. However, there is limited information regarding the non-uniform exposure of nuclear power plant workers. In this study, the dose equivalents of high-dose-rate workplaces and the personal doses of 88 workers were estimated at four Japanese commercial nuclear power plant sites (RWR: 3 units and BWR: 3 units) and the dose to the lens of the eye and the exposure situations of the workers were analyzed.

Simple pretreatment method for tritium measurement in environmental water samples using a liquid scintillation counter

Nakasone, Shunya*; Yokoyama, Sumi*; Takahashi, Tomoyuki*; Ota, Masakazu; Kakiuchi, Hideki*; Sugihara, Shinji*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Momoshima, Noriyuki*; Tamari, Toshiya*; Shima, Nagayoshi*; et al.

Plasma and Fusion Research (Internet), 16, p.2405035_1 - 2405035_5, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.1585/pfr.16.2405035

Removal of impurities such as organic and other types of dissolved matters from environmental water samples is required for precise analysis of tritium with a liquid scintillation counting method. In general, a distillation method is a conventional one for tritium analysis in environmental water samples, but is a time-consuming process that takes 24 hours for removal of impurities. We have proposed a rapid pretreatment method for tritium analysis, that uses ion exchange resins. In this study, we performed batch experiments, to evaluate the effectiveness of the ion exchange resins on the tritium measurement. The results obtained demonstrated that removal of impurities in the sample water by ion exchange resins can be achieved during a short period of time (i.e., in 5 min).

Japanese population dose from natural radiation

Omori, Yasutaka*; Hosoda, Masahiro*; Takahashi, Fumiaki; Sanada, Tetsuya*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Ono, Koji*; Furukawa, Masahide*

Journal of Radiological Protection, 40(3), p.R99 - R140, 2020/09

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/ab73b1

UNSCEAR and the Nuclear Safety Research Association report the annual effective doses from cosmic rays, terrestrial radiation, inhalation and ingestion from natural sources. In this study, radiation doses from natural radiation sources in Japan were reviewed with the latest knowledge and data. Total annual effective dose from cosmic-ray exposure can be evaluated as 0.29 mSv. The annual effective dose from external exposure to terrestrial radiation for Japanese population can be evaluated as 0.33 mSv using the data of nationwide survey by the National Institute of Radiological Sciences. The Japan Chemical Analysis Center (JCAC) performed the nationwide radon survey using a unified method for radon measurements in indoor, outdoor and workplace. The annual effective dose for radon inhalation was estimated using a current dose conversion factor, and the values were estimated to be 0.50 mSv. The annual effective dose from thoron was reported as 0.09 mSv by UNSCEAR and then the annual effective dose from inhalation can be described as 0.59 mSv. According to the report of large scale survey of foodstuff by JCAC, the effective dose from main radionuclides due to dietary intake can be evaluated to be 0.99 mSv. Finally, Japanese population dose from natural radiation can be assessed as 2.2 mSv which is near to the world average value of 2.4 mSv.

Development of field estimation technique and improvement of environmental tritium behavior model

Yokoyama, Sumi*; Takahashi, Tomoyuki*; Ota, Masakazu; Kakiuchi, Hideki*; Sugihara, Shinji*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Momoshima, Noriyuki*; Tamari, Toshiya*; Shima, Nagayoshi*; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; et al.

Plasma and Fusion Research (Internet), 14(Sp.2), p.3405099_1 - 3405099_4, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.1585/pfr.14.3405099

The Large Helical Device of the National Institute for Fusion Science started D-D experiments in 2017. To ensure the safety of the facility, it is important to develop evaluation methods for environmental tritium transfer. Tritiated water (HTO) in atmosphere and soil is transferred to plants, and organically bound tritium (OBT) is formed by photosynthesis. Prediction of OBT formation is important, because OBT accumulates in plants and causes dose through ingestion. The objective of this study is to estimate environmental tritium transfer using a simple compartment model and practical parameters. We proposed a simple compartment model consisting of air-soil-plant components, and tried to validate the model by comparison with a sophisticated model, SOLVEG. In this study, we plan to add wet deposition to the model and obtain parameters from measurements of soil permeability and tritium concentrations in air, soil and plants. We also establish rapid pretreatment methods for OBT analysis.

Reconstruction of the atmospheric releases of I and Cs resulting from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Chino, Masamichi; Terada, Hiroaki; Katata, Genki; Nagai, Haruyasu; Nakayama, Hiromasa; Yamazawa, Hiromi*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Ohara, Toshimasa*; Takigawa, Masayuki*; Hayami, Hiroshi*; et al.

NIRS-M-252, p.127 - 135, 2013/03

http://repo.nirs.go.jp/dspace/bitstream/918273645/330/1/nirs_m_252.pdf

We estimated the release rates and total amounts of I and Cs discharged into the atmosphere from March 12 to April 5, 2011. The applied method is a reverse estimation by coupling environmental monitoring data with atmospheric dispersion simulations under the assumption of unit release rate (1 Bq/h). It calculates release rates of radionuclides (Bq/h) by dividing measured air concentrations of I and Cs into calculated ones at sampling points. The estimated temporal variation of releases indicates that the significant release, over 10 Bq/h of I, occurred on March 15, following to relatively small releases, 10 10 Bq/h, but the release rates from March 16 are estimated to be rather constant on the order 10 Bq/h until March 24. The release rates have decreased with small day-to-day variations to the order of 10 10 Bq/h of I on the beginning of April. The estimated source term was examined on the point of the time trend, total releases and the ground depositions of Cs by using different atmospheric dispersion models with above source term and compared them with observed Cs deposition distribution. These examinations showed that the estimated source term was reasonably accurate during the period when the plume flowed over land in Japan.

Monitoring network of atmospheric Radon-222 concentration in East Asia and backward trajectory analysis of Radon-222 concentration trend at a small solitary island on Pacific Ocean

Okura, Takehisa; Yamazawa, Hiromi*; Moriizumi, Jun*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Guo, Q.*; Tojima, Yasunori*; Iida, Takao*

Proceedings of 3rd Asian and Oceanic Congress on Radiation Protection (AOCRP-3) (CD-ROM), 3 Pages, 2010/05

Monitoring network of Rn concentration in air which was measured in Beijing, Nagoya, Hegura-jima, Hachijo-jima and Hateruma-jima, as a tracer for long-range transport in East Asia was established. At inland sites, Beijing and Nagoya, high concentrations Rn were measured, at marine sites, Hachijo-jima and Hateruma-jima, Rn concentrations level was very low. Seasonal variations of the Rn concentration show that Rn concentration was the lowest in the summer and the highest in the winter. Diurnal variations were measured at inland sites. At marine sites several-day-cycle variations were measured. It was pointed out by this study that the several-day-cycle variations at Hachijo-jima were dependent on synoptic-scale atmospheric disturbance. Backward trajectory analysis of the relationship between atmospheric Rn concentrations at Hachijo-jima and transport pathway of air mass indicates that atmospheric Rn at Hachijo-jima has much to do with transport pathway of air.

Sorption behavior of Cs in a river-sea system boundary

Takata, Hyoe*; Wakiyama, Yoshifumi*; Wada, Toshihiro*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Aono, Tatsuo*; Nakanishi, Takahiro; Misono, Toshiharu; Shiribiki, Takehiko*; Aoyama, Michio*

no journal, , 

Model intercomparison project for cesium (Cs) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident using identical meteorological data and source term

Sato, Yosuke*; Takigawa, Masayuki*; Sekiyama, Tsuyoshi*; Kajino, Mizuo*; Terada, Hiroaki; Nagai, Haruyasu; Kondo, Hiroaki*; Uchida, Junya*; Goto, Daisuke*; Qulo, D.*; et al.

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English

Development of a new sampler for tritium measurement in the infiltrated soil water

Kakiuchi, Hideki*; Tanaka, Masahiro*; Fukutani, Satoshi*; Sugihara, Shinji*; Hirao, Shigekazu*; Momoshima, Noriyuki*; Tamari, Toshiya*; Shima, Nagayoshi*; Atarashi-Andoh, Mariko; Furukawa, Masahide*; et al.

no journal, , 

no abstracts in English