Arrival time and magnitude of airborne fission products from the Fukushima, Japan, reactor incident as measured in Seattle, WA, USA

J Diaz Leon; D A Jaffe; J Kaspar; A Knecht; M L Miller; R G H Robertson; A G Schubert

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.06.005

Arrival time and magnitude of airborne fission products from the Fukushima, Japan, reactor incident as measured in Seattle, WA, USA

J Environ Radioact. 2011 Nov;102(11):1032-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.06.005. Epub 2011 Jun 29.

Authors

J Diaz Leon¹, D A Jaffe, J Kaspar, A Knecht, M L Miller, R G H Robertson, A G Schubert

Affiliation

¹ Department of Physics and Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

PMID: 21719167
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.06.005

Abstract

We report results of air monitoring started due to the recent natural catastrophe on 11 March 2011 in Japan and the severe ensuing damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor complex. On 17-18 March 2011, we registered the first arrival of the airborne fission products (131)I, (132)I, (132)Te, (134)Cs, and (137)Cs in Seattle, WA, USA, by identifying their characteristic gamma rays using a germanium detector. We measured the evolution of the activities over a period of 23 days at the end of which the activities had mostly fallen below our detection limit. The highest detected activity from radionuclides attached to particulate matter amounted to 4.4 ± 1.3 mBq m(-3) of (131)I on 19-20 March.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants, Radioactive / analysis*
Cities
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Humans
Japan
Radioactive Fallout / analysis*
Radioactive Hazard Release*
Radioisotopes / analysis*
Risk Assessment / methods
Time Factors
Washington

Substances

Air Pollutants, Radioactive
Radioactive Fallout
Radioisotopes