The atmospheric transport of iodine-129 from Fukushima to British Columbia, Canada and its deposition and transport into groundwater

Abstract

The Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident (FDNA) released iodine-129 (15.7 million year half-life) and other fission product radionuclides into the environment in the spring and summer of 2011. 129I is recognized as a useful tracer for the short-lived radiohazard 131I, which has a mobile geochemical behavior with potential to contaminate water resources. To trace 129I released by the FDNA reaching Canada, pre-accident and post-accident rain samples collected in Vancouver, on Saturna Island and from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program in Washington State were measured. Groundwater from the Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer was sampled to determine the fate of 129I that infiltrates below the root zone. Modeling of vadose zone transport was performed to constrain the travel time and retardation of 129I. The mean pre-accident 129I concentration in rain was 31 × 106 atoms/L (n = 4). Immediately following the FDNA, 129I values increased to 211 × 106 atoms/L and quickly returned to near-background levels. However, pulses of elevated 129I continued for several months. The increases in 129I concentrations from both Vancouver and Saturna Island were synchronized, and occurred directly after the initial release from the FDNA. The 129I in shallow (3H/3He age <1.4 years) Wassenaar et al. (2006) groundwater showed measurable variability through March 2013 with an average of 3.2 × 106 atoms/L (n = 32) that was coincident with modeled travel times for Fukushima 129I. The groundwater response and the modeling results suggest that 129I was partially attenuated in soil, which is consistent with its geochemical behavior; however, we conclude that the measured variability may be due to Fukushima 129I entering groundwater.