Negligible tritium accumulation in Japanese flounder from treated water released from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; A Numerical simulation study

Ikenoue, Tsubasa; Tani, Takashi*; Kawamura, Hideyuki; Sato, Yuhi*

Environmental Science & Technology, 7 Pages, 2025/09

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c04474

Since 2023, ALPS-treated water containing tritium from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F) accident has been released into the ocean. Monitoring of seafood collected near the Fukushima coast has shown negligible increases in the tritium concentration. However, this monitoring has limitations, including delayed data release and a limited sample size. Therefore, a predictive estimation is necessary to assess the potential for high tritium accumulation in seafood. This study estimated tritium concentrations in Japanese flounder near the Fukushima coast using numerical simulations. The estimation combined an oceanic dispersion model for tritiated water (HTO) with a tritium transfer model for the marine food web. Tritium accumulation was evaluated as organically bound tritium (OBT), the long-retaining chemical form of tritium in organisms. First, the dispersion model's ability to reproduce HTO concentrations in seawater was validated using actual measurement data from the Fukushima coast, showing good agreement. Subsequently, the OBT concentrations in flounder were estimated under the hypothetical maximum release scenario of the treated water. The estimation suggested that even within 100 km of 1F, the maximum concentration of the OBT was comparable with natural levels of tritium in environmental waters. Additionally, the maximum concentration in the flounder remained at a negligible level for internal radiation exposure through consumption.

Development of HCl-free solid-phase extraction combined with ICP-MS/MS for rapid assessment of difficult-to-measure radionuclides, 3; Measurement of Se concentration in concrete rubble

Banjarnahor, I. M.; Do, V. K.; Furuse, Takahiro; Ota, Yuki; Tanaka, Kosuke

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 10 Pages, 2025/00

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-025-10143-w

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident analysis considering the thermal stratification and containment leakage

Nakamura, Yuki*; Kojima, Yoshihiro*; Yamashita, Takuya; Shimomura, Kenta; Mizokami, Shinya

Proceedings of 14th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics, Operation, and Safety (NUTHOS-14) (Internet), 12 Pages, 2024/08

Resilient design in nuclear energy; Critical lessons from a cross-disciplinary analysis of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear accident

Ayoub, A.*; Wainwright, Haruko*; Sansavini, G.*; Gauntt, R.*; Saito, Kimiaki

iScience (Internet), 27(4), p.109485_1 - 109485_15, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.109485

Soil dust and bioaerosols as potential sources for resuspended Cs occurring near the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant

Ota, Masakazu; Takahara, Shogo; Yoshimura, Kazuya; Nagakubo, Azusa; Hirouchi, Jun; Hayashi, Naho; Abe, Tomohisa; Funaki, Hironori; Nagai, Haruyasu

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 264, p.107198_1 - 107198_15, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2023.107198

One of the current major radiation exposure pathways from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident-fallout is inhalation of the re-suspended Cs occurring in air. While wind-induced soil particle resuspension has been recognized as a primary mechanism of Cs resuspension, studies following the FDNPP accident suggested that fungal spores can be a significant source of the atmospheric Cs particularly in the rural areas such as difficult-to-return zone (DRZ). To elucidate the relative importance of the two resuspension phenomena, we propose a model simulating resuspension of Cs as soil particles and fungal spores, and applied it to DRZ. Our model's calculation showed that soil particle resuspension was responsible for the surface-air Cs observed during winter-spring, but could not account for the higher Cs concentrations observed in summer-autumn. The higher concentrations in the summer-autumn were in general reproduced by implementing fungal spore Cs emission, that replenished low soil particle Cs resuspension in that period. According to our model's concept, Cs accumulation in fungal spores and high spore emission rate characterized by the rural environment were likely responsible for the abundance of spore Cs in the air. It was inferred that the influence of the fungal spores on the atmospheric Cs would last longer since un-decontaminated forests still exist in DRZ.

Establishing an evaluation method for the aging phenomenon by physical force in fuel debris

Suzuki, Seiya; Arai, Yoichi; Okamura, Nobuo; Watanabe, Masayuki

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(7), p.839 - 848, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2159559

The fuel debris, consisting of nuclear fuel materials and reactor structural materials, generated in the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant can become deteriorated like rocks under the changes of environmental temperature. Although the fuel debris have been cooled by water for 10 years, they are affected by seasonal and/or day-and-night temperature changes. Therefore, in evaluating the aging behavior of the fuel debris, it is essential to consider the changes in environmental temperature. Assuming that the fuel debris are deteriorated, radioactive substances that have recently undergone micronization could be eluted into the cooling water, and such condition may affect defueling methods. We focused on the effect of repeated changes in environmental temperature on the occurrence of cracks, and an accelerated test using simulated fuel debris was carried out. The length of the crack increases with increasing number of heat cycle; therefore, the fuel debris become brittle by stress caused by thermal expansion and contraction. In conclusion, it was confirmed that the mechanical deterioration of the fuel debris is similar to that of rocks or minerals, and it became possible to predict changes in the length of the crack in the simulated fuel debris and environmental model.

Aging of fuel-containing materials (fuel debris) in the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) Nuclear Power Plant and its implication for the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Kitagaki, Toru; Krasnov, V.*; Ikeda, Atsushi

Journal of Nuclear Materials, 576, p.154224_1 - 154224_14, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.154224

Attention-based time series analysis for data-driven anomaly detection in nuclear power plants

Dong, F.*; Chen, S.*; Demachi, Kazuyuki*; Yoshikawa, Masanori; Seki, Akiyuki; Takaya, Shigeru

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 404, p.112161_1 - 112161_15, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112161

Mental health measures for the staff of nuclear research and development institution mobilized in dealing with residents during the nuclear disaster caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake

Tomotsune, Yusuke; Yajima, Mayumi; Okuno, Hiroshi; Yamamoto, Kazuya

Rodo Anzen Eisei Kenkyu, 16(1), p.29 - 43, 2023/02

https://doi.org/10.2486/josh.JOSH-2021-0017-JI

During the first year of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, a total of about 45,000 employees of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) left their original workplaces to engage in telephone counseling, assistance of temporary return, and environmental monitoring. In particular, the staff who worked on the telephone counseling service, which directly contacted the residents, suffered from the stress associated with emotional labor. Systematic mental health care to the staff who engaged in these tasks was provided them in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories of the JAEA. This paper considers this activity as a concrete example of "support for supporters" and discusses the mental health of the staff who provide support to the residents in a nuclear disaster.

The Formation mechanism of radiocesium-bearing microparticles derived from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant using electron microscopy

Hagiwara, Hiroki; Kondo, Keietsu; Hidaka, Akihide

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 331(12), p.5905 - 5914, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08434-7