[H-CG25] Nuclear Energy and Geoscience

[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.