Trend of 137Cs concentration in river water in the medium term and future following the Fukushima nuclear accident

Abstract

It is a critical to examine the migration behavior of radiocesium derived from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in river systems to predict the future contamination status and propose effective countermeasures to reduce exposure. We conducted a three-year-long observation (April 2015–March 2018) of the 137Cs concentration in two rivers which located surrounding the FDNPP. The result revealed a declining trend for the dissolved and particulate 137Cs concentration in river water from four to seven years after the FDNPP accident. The dissolved and particulate 137Cs concentrations for both rivers had similar temporal patterns and showed declining trends with time. However, the dissolved 137Cs concentration had longer half-life than the particulate 137Cs concentration and large seasonal variations related to water temperature. The environmental half-life for the dissolved 137Cs concentration was longer than previous reported values within three years after the accident, suggesting that the declining trend for the dissolved 137Cs concentration is gradually decreasing with time. The temperature dependency of the dissolved 137Cs concentration became weaker year by year. From the D10 equation we proposed, the dissolved 137Cs concentration will likely remain at the same level for several decades. The results of the present study promote our understanding of both the medium- and long-term impacts of the FDNPP accident on river systems.