Dose estimation for contaminated soil storage in living environment

Takai, Shizuka; Shimada, Asako; Sawaguchi, Takuma; Takeda, Seiji; Kimura, Hideo

Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 188(1), p.1 - 7, 2020/01

https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncz250

After the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident, most of radiocesium-contaminated soil generated from decontamination activities outside Fukushima prefecture has been stored at decontamination sites such as schools, parks and residential lands (storage at sites) according to the Decontamination Guidelines. However, additional exposure due to the present storage has not been evaluated. Moreover, entering storage sites, which is not restricted for storage at sites, was not considered in safety assessment conducted in the guidelines. To continue the storage and confirm the effectiveness, understanding of present possible exposures is important. In this study, we evaluated exposure doses for residents and users of storage sites based on the present situation. As a result, annual doses due to residence were 10 to 10 mSv y and doses due to annual entries were of the order of 10 mSv y. Hence, we confirmed that the exposure due to present storage outside Fukushima is significantly less than 1 mSv y.