TY - JOUR
T1 - Fukushima Daiichi-Derived Radionuclides in the Ocean: Transport, Fate, and Impacts
AU - Buesseler, Ken
AU - Dai, Minhan
AU - Aoyama, Michio
AU - Benitez-Nelson, Claudia
AU - Charmasson, Sabine
AU - Higley, Kathryn
AU - Maderich, Vladimir
AU - Masqué, Pere
AU - Morris, Paul J.
AU - Oughton, Deborah
AU - Smith, John N.
PY - 2017/1/3
Y1 - 2017/1/3
N2 - ©2017 Ken Buesseler et al. The events that followed the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, included the loss of power and overheating at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants, which led to extensive releases of radioactive gases, volatiles, and liquids, particularly to the coastal ocean. The fate of these radionuclides depends in large part on their oceanic geochemistry, physical processes, and biological uptake. Whereas radioactivity on land can be resampled and its distribution mapped, releases to the marine environment are harder to characterize owing to variability in ocean currents and the general challenges of sampling at sea. Five years later, it is appropriate to review what happened in terms of the sources, transport, and fate of these radionuclides in the ocean. In addition to the oceanic behavior of these contaminants, this review considers the potential health effects and societal impacts.
AB - ©2017 Ken Buesseler et al. The events that followed the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, included the loss of power and overheating at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants, which led to extensive releases of radioactive gases, volatiles, and liquids, particularly to the coastal ocean. The fate of these radionuclides depends in large part on their oceanic geochemistry, physical processes, and biological uptake. Whereas radioactivity on land can be resampled and its distribution mapped, releases to the marine environment are harder to characterize owing to variability in ocean currents and the general challenges of sampling at sea. Five years later, it is appropriate to review what happened in terms of the sources, transport, and fate of these radionuclides in the ocean. In addition to the oceanic behavior of these contaminants, this review considers the potential health effects and societal impacts.
KW - Caesium
KW - Cesium
KW - Japan
KW - North Pacific
KW - Radioactivity
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-010816-060733
DO - https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-010816-060733
M3 - Article
VL - 9
SP - 173
EP - 203
JO - Annual Review of Marine Science
JF - Annual Review of Marine Science
SN - 1941-1405
IS - 1
ER -