A variety of environmental media and foodstuffs have been analyzed for radionuclides resulting from the Fukushima reactor accident. Low background gamma-ray measurements were performed at UC Berkeley and at the Low Background Facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Materials tested include environmental air filters, automobile filters, rainwater, soil and sediment, as well as a variety of fish, dairy products, and plant material. Using a chemical separation and low-level beta counting procedure, a search was also made for Sr-90 in local rainwater collected soon after the Fukushima accident. Results of these measurements will be presented and comparisons will be made to the levels of naturally occurring radioisotopes found in these materials and to contamination levels observed in the San Francisco Bay Area after the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Measurements of fission products from the Fukushima Daiichi reactor accident in the San Francisco Bay area

248th National Meeting (2014)

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