Constituent elements and their distribution in the radioactive Cs-bearing silicate glass microparticles released from Fukushima Nuclear Plant

小暮 敏博*; 山口 紀子*; 瀬川 浩代*; 向井 弘樹*; 甕 聡子*; 秋山 琴音*; 三留 正則*; 原 徹*; 矢板 毅

Microscopy, 65(5), p.451 - 459, 2016/10

https://doi.org/10.1093/jmicro/dfw030

Microparticles of radioactive Cs-bearing silicate glass emitted from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant were investigated mainly using state-of-the-art energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in scanning transmission electron microscopes. Precise elemental maps of the particles were obtained using double silicon drift detectors with a large collection angle of X-rays, and qualitative elemental analysis was performed using high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy with a microcalorimetry detector. Beside the substantial elements as previously reported, Mn and Ba were also common, though their amounts were small. The atomic ratios of the substantial elements were not the same but varied among individual particles. Fe and Zn were relatively homogeneously distributed, whereas the concentration of alkali ions varied radially. Generally, Cs was rich and K and Rb were poor outward of the particles but the degree of such radial dependence was considerably different among the particles.