Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2016

Presentation information

Oral

Symbol H (Human Geosciences) » H-CG Complex & General

[H-CG25] Nuclear Energy and Geoscience

Tue. May 24, 2016 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM 304 (3F)

Convener:*Eiji Sasao(Tono Geoscience Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency), Tsutomu Sato(Faculty of Engineering Hokkaido University), Hidekazu Yoshida(Nagoya University Museum), Chair:Ryuta Hataya(Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry)

12:00 PM - 12:15 PM

[HCG25-12] Temporal changes of radiocesium outflow in mountainous forest of the Abukuma Mountains, Fukushima

*Tadafumi Niizato1, Hironobu Abe1, Katsuaki Mitachi1, Yasuo Ishii1, Yoshito Sasaki1, Takayoshi Watanabe1, Akihiro Kitamura1, Masaaki Yamaguchi1 (1.Japan Atomic Energy Agency)

Keywords:Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, radiocesium, mountainous forest

This paper presents outflow characteristics of Cs-137 in mountainous forest of the Abukuma Mountains, Fukushima, during 2013-2014. Cs-137 deposition via throughfall, stemflow, and litterfall processes was estimated to be on the order of 103 Bq m–2, and the outflow of Cs-137 via surface washoff was estimated to be on the order of 102 Bq m–2 from April 2013 to December 2014 in the experimental plots installed in deciduous broad-leaved and cedar forests in the Abukuma Mountains. Cs-137 inventories of forest soil down to a level of 1 cm were decreasing in ridge and valley-bottom soil during the period from December 2012 to October 2014. The inventories in mountain slope showed both decreasing and increasing tendencies because of the heterogeneous transportation of Cs-137 via surface washoff on the slope. The results of outflow rate simulations using the SACT model developed in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency indicate decreasing tendency accompanied with a deeper penetration of Cs-137 into soil profile. Thus, the forest floor in the mountainous forest seems to be a sink of radiocesium contamination rather than a source for the contamination of the other ecosystems.