On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Japan created a 14 meter tsunami that flooded the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station. Failure of reactor cooling systems led to explosive discharges of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Deposition of fission-products was measured in ambient air and precipitation. In the United States, 131Iodine 134Cesium, and 137Cesium were quantified in wet-only precipitation samples collected by the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) from March 8 through April 5, 2011 at existing long-term monitoring sites. Whole-water and filterable solid samples were analyzed by the United States Geological Survey using gamma spectrometry. Fission products were detected in 21% of the whole-water samples, but not in filtered solids, indicating radionuclides predominantly present in the aqueous phase. Calculated 1- to 2-week individual radionuclide deposition fluxes ranged from 0.47 to 5100 Becquerels per square meter, comparable to other networks worldwide.

Response of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program to the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster: Value of long-term monitoring for post-disaster assessments

245th National Meeting (2013)

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