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Buesseler, K.O. 2014. – Fukushima and Ocean Radioactivity. Oceanography

…The Fukushima disaster provides a critical tool for the ocean science community to study fundamental physical, chemical, and biological processes in the Pacific Basin for as long as we can detect traces of the suite of long-lived radionuclides that originated there. It should serve as a call for ocean scientists to turn their attention to all aspects of this event, which continues to unfold and to present a plethora of new challenges, opportunities, and questions….

EARLY ONLINE RELEASE

Posted January 5, 2014

  

THE FUKUSHIMA DISASTER PROVIDES

A CRITICAL TOOL FOR THE OCEAN SCIENCE

COMMUNITY TO STUDY FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL,

CHEMICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN

THE PACIFIC BASIN FOR AS LONG AS WE CAN

DETECT TRACES OF THE SUITE OF LONG-LIVED

RADIONUCLIDES THAT ORIGINATED THERE.

THE FACT THAT WE LIVE IN A RADIOACTIVE

WORLD AND THAT THE WORLD OCEAN ALREADY

CONTAINS A WIDE RANGE OF NATURAL AND

ANTHROPOGENIC RADIONUCLIDES IN NO

WAY DIMINISHES THE SCALE AND NATURE

OF EVENTS AT FUKUSHIMA .

Abstract

[…]

In Japan, seafood consumption rates are higher (57 kg yr –1), but even using the legal limit of 100 Bq kg –1 Cs in fish results in a dose of 75 μSv or more than 10 times lower than the international dose limit of 1 mSv yr –1 set for members of the public. At a Cs level of 100 Bq kg –1, the dose from 210Po is almost 20 times greater. As such, none of these potential doses from Cs would be expected to result in observable increases in cancer rates in the populations of Japan or the United States (Fisher et al., 2013).

Clearly, it is important to keep monitoring Cs in fish off Japan, espe- cially in bottom-feeding fish, but also in freshwater fish (which are higher in radioactive Cs due to lower stable Cs in fresh waters).

However, measuring fish is not enough to help with manage- ment decisions and planning hampered by lack of knowledge about the nature and amount of continuing sources from the NPP, rivers, and bottom sediments;

how they might change in the future; and the residence time for Cs in the sea- floor sediments off Japan. In addition recent reports of elevated 90Sr/137Cs in groundwater at the NPP suggest that

multiple isotopes and their sources and sinks need to be studied to understand the fate of these radionuclides in the ocean and uptake by biota to support targeted decisions about whether or

not to re-open fisheries. Strontium is a bone-seeking isotope that has a longer biological half-life in fish; however, unless consuming smaller fish whole,

we don’t usually consume fish bones. In any case, multiple isotopes and their sources and sinks need to be studied to understand the fate of these radio nuclides in the ocean and uptake by

biota in order to support targeted deci- sions about whether or not to reopen fisheries. Such decisions need to come with continued public education about the health benefits of eating seafood that outweigh the low risk from radionuclide doses, as these studies and other data on naturally occurring radionuclides have already shown.

[…]

SUMMARY

The fact that we live in a radioactive world and that the world ocean already contains a wide range of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in no way diminishes the scale and nature of events at Fukushima. For the ocean, the continued, unintentional releases from the site of the damaged nuclear power plant are unprecedented and will likely resonate in the local ecology and both national and international policy for decades to come. The Fukushima disaster provides a critical tool for the ocean science community to study fundamental physical, chemical, and biological processes in the Pacific Basin for as long as we can detect traces of the suite of long-lived radionuclides that originated there. It should serve as a call for ocean scientists to turn their attention to all aspects of this event, which continues to unfold and to present a plethora of new challenges, opportunities, and questions.

CITATION

Buesseler, K.O. 2014. Fukushima and Ocean Radioactivity. Oceanography 27(1),

http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2014.02.

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2014.02

COPYRIGHT

This article is an early online release from Oceanography, Volume 27, Number 1, a quarterly

journal of The Oceanography Society. Copyright 2014 by The Oceanography Society. All rights

reserved.

USAGE

Permission is granted to copy this article for use in teaching and research. Republication,

systematic reproduction, or collective redistribution of any portion of this article by photocopy

machine, reposting, or other means is permitted only with the approval of The Oceanography

Society. Send all correspondence to: info@tos.org or The Oceanography Society, PO Box 1931,

Rockville, MD 20849-1931, USA.

DOWNLOADED FROM HTTP://WWW.TOS.ORG/OCEANOGRAPHY

January 9, 2014 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized