A variety of environmental media were analyzed for fallout radionuclides resulting from the Fukushima nuclear accident by the Low Background Facility (LBF) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkel...A variety of environmental media were analyzed for fallout radionuclides resulting from the Fukushima nuclear accident by the Low Background Facility (LBF) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, CA. Monitoring activities in air and rainwater began soon after the onset of the March 11, 2011 tsunami and are reported here through the end of 2012. Observed fallout isotopes include 131I, 132I, 132Te, 134Cs, 136Cs, and 137Cs. Isotopes were measured on environmental air filters, automobile filters, and in rainwater. An additional analysis of rainwater in search of 90Sr is also presented. Last, a series of food measurements conducted in September of 2013 are included due to extended media concerns of 134,137Cs in fish. Similar measurements of fallout from the Chernobyl disaster at LBNL, previously unpublished publicly, are also presented here as a comparison with the Fukushima incident. All measurements presented also include natural radionuclides found in the environment to provide a basis for comparison.展开更多
After 10 years of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,Japan decided to release the nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on 13 April 2021.It is apparent that Japan has chosen the most cost-efficient way to deal with th...After 10 years of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,Japan decided to release the nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on 13 April 2021.It is apparent that Japan has chosen the most cost-efficient way to deal with the contaminated water,however,great opposition and concerns have been raised internationally due to the ecotoxicological features of radioactive materials and their harmful impacts on the environment.Here we an-alyze the ecological impacts caused by the nuclear accident and the potential impacts of releasing the nuclear wastewater into the ocean.Science-based solutions are proposed through a third-party evaluation and strict envi-ronmental assessment,multi-stakeholder public participation,integrated monitoring of the neighboring coastal countries,long-term international collaborative research,and setting up international convention for ecological compensation.展开更多
It has been revealed that prolonged shelter life caused by Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident in conjunction with the Great East Japan Earthquake influences sleep and mental health of the residents, and ...It has been revealed that prolonged shelter life caused by Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident in conjunction with the Great East Japan Earthquake influences sleep and mental health of the residents, and therefore its influence on their physical and emotional health has become a concern. Therefore, in this study, the authors aimed at clarifying actual situations of sleep and stress of middle age males living in shelters for a long period in each of emergency temporary houses and post-earthquake public houses. For 5 males who moved from emergency temporary houses to post-earthquake public houses, their objective and subjective sleep states were measured with Actigraph and PSQI, respectively. Furthermore, their objective and subjective stresses were measured with saliva stress biomarkers and GHQ28, respectively. Their data were analyzed by paired t-test. As result, in comparison between the life in the emergency temporary houses and post-earthquake public houses, significant variation was not recognized in their objective sleep states and saliva stress biomarkers though their subjective sleep and subjective stress were significantly worsened after moving to the post-earthquake public houses.展开更多
Various reports indicate that the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism is increasing in developed nations, and that improved detection and more inclusive criteria for the disease do not explain this trend entirely. ...Various reports indicate that the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism is increasing in developed nations, and that improved detection and more inclusive criteria for the disease do not explain this trend entirely. One risk factor documented in numerous studies is exposure to radioactive iodine found in nuclear weapons test fallout and nuclear reactor emissions. Large amounts of fallout disseminated worldwide from the meltdowns in four reactors at the Fukushima-Dai-ichi plant in Japan beginning March 11, 2011 included radioiodine isotopes. Just days after the meltdowns, I-131 concentrations in US precipitation was measured up to 211 times above normal. Highest levels of I-131 and airborne gross beta were documented in the five US States on the Pacific Ocean. The number of congenital hypothyroid cases in these five states from March 17-December 31, 2011 was 16% greater than for the same period in 2010, compared to a 3% decline in 36 other US States展开更多
Radiation exposure has been linked to increased risk of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) for decades. CH is a relatively uncommon condition, occurring in about 1 of 2000 US births. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) leve...Radiation exposure has been linked to increased risk of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) for decades. CH is a relatively uncommon condition, occurring in about 1 of 2000 US births. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels for each child born in California permitted an analysis of combined confirmed and borderline CH cases. Borderline/confirmed CH cases are more than seven times greater than just confirmed cases. Airborne levels of gross beta nuclear radiation in the US were elevated in the period starting several days after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, especially in west coast states like California. The borderline/confirmed CH rate for newborns during the last 9.5 months in 2011 (exposed to Fukushima in utero) vs. births during other periods in 2011 and 2012 (not exposed) was significantly elevated, suggesting that adverse health effects to the newborn thyroid were not restricted to just a small number of confirmed CH cases. The sensitivity of the fetus to radiation exposure, plus the presence of thyroid-seeking radioiodine, suggest further analysis of Fukushima’s potential to cause adverse health effects in newborns is needed.展开更多
Background: After the March 2011 “triple” disaster in Japan, the residents of Fukushima Prefecture suffered from serious psychological stress. Aims: This study aimed to elucidate the influence of stressful condition...Background: After the March 2011 “triple” disaster in Japan, the residents of Fukushima Prefecture suffered from serious psychological stress. Aims: This study aimed to elucidate the influence of stressful conditions on psychiatric disorders, as reflected in new psychiatric admissions. Methods: Diagnoses and background conditions among new psychiatric admissions during the 3 months immediately after the disaster in 2011 and the corresponding time periods of 2010 and 2012 were surveyed. Results: In 2011, more patients were admitted in confusional, manic, neurasthenic, and delirious states, whereas there were fewer admissions for depression. In 2012, more admissions pertained to depression. Twenty-four percent of the new admissions in 2011 were associated with concerns about radiation contamination and hospitalization, which declined to 4% in 2012. Conclusions: The diagnoses and background conditions among new psychiatric admissions were affected by the disaster;with the influence differing according to the time elapsed after the disaster.展开更多
We investigated the link between heat stroke and high air temperature from July to September in 2010 in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Daily data of ambulance transports stratified by heat stroke and the highest air tem...We investigated the link between heat stroke and high air temperature from July to September in 2010 in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Daily data of ambulance transports stratified by heat stroke and the highest air temperature were obtained. Heat stroke was significantly correlated with the highest temperature. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and following tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed many cities in the northwestern part of Japan. Taken together, heat stroke may dramatically increase in Fukushima prefecture, Japan in 2011.展开更多
Radioactive fallout after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown entered the U.S. environment within days;levels of radioactivity were particularly elevated in the five western states bordering on the Pacific Ocean...Radioactive fallout after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown entered the U.S. environment within days;levels of radioactivity were particularly elevated in the five western states bordering on the Pacific Ocean. The particular sensitivity of the fetus to radiation exposure, and the ability of radioisotopes to attach to cells, tissues, and DNA raise the question of whether fetuses/newborns with birth defects with the greater exposures suffered elevated harm during the period after the meltdown. We compare rates of five congenital anomalies for 2010 and 2011 births from April-November. The increase of 13.00% in the five western states is significantly greater than the 3.77% decrease for all other U.S. states combined (CI 0.030 - 0.205, p < 0.008). Consistent patterns of elevated increases are observed in the west (20 of 21 comparisons, 6 of which are statistically significant/borderline significant), by state, type of birth defect, month of birth, and month of conception. While these five anomalies are relatively uncommon (about 7500 cases per year in the U.S.), sometimes making statistical significance difficult to achieve, the consistency of the results lend strength to the analysis, and suggest fetal harm from Fukushima may have occurred in western U.S. states.展开更多
Several countries are developing and deploying SFRs even after the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Station. However, the Fukushima accident prompted all countries to redefi...Several countries are developing and deploying SFRs even after the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Station. However, the Fukushima accident prompted all countries to redefine the fast reactor programs. The drastic safety enhancement is the most important issue to be established. In light of this situation, key essence of the safety improvement is reviewed in this paper by referring the achievements of the recent International Workshop on Prevention and Mitigation of Severe Accidents in SFRs which was held by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June, 2012 and the findings published in the past journals including those of the International Conference on Fast Reactor and Related Fuel Cycles (FR09) held by IAEA in December, 2009.展开更多
It is shown that the capture and fission cross-sections of 238U and 239Pu increase with temperature within 1000 K - 3000 K range, in contrast to those of 235U, that under certain conditions may lead to the so-called b...It is shown that the capture and fission cross-sections of 238U and 239Pu increase with temperature within 1000 K - 3000 K range, in contrast to those of 235U, that under certain conditions may lead to the so-called blow-up modes, stimulating the anomalous neutron flux and nuclear fuel temperature growth. Some features of the blow-up regimes in neutronmultiplying media are discussed.展开更多
Concerning the increasing global energy demand, the current paper considers nuclear energy as a solution. Within this context, the 2011 disaster in Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and, particularly, the technical disord...Concerning the increasing global energy demand, the current paper considers nuclear energy as a solution. Within this context, the 2011 disaster in Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and, particularly, the technical disorders in boiling water reactors are explained. The deficiency of safety technique in boiling water reactors is explained. The deficiencies in safety procedure of this type of reactors manifested during 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami are explained. To complete the discussion, the newer technologies of reactors enabling them to act more safely during natural disasters are introduced. These investigations indicate that despite improvement in the fission reactor technologies, the danger embedded in them still remains. Therefore, the nuclear fusion using Deuterium-Tritium reaction is the best way forward for energy production in the future, and the best candidate of this type of reactors is Tokamak.展开更多
The Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model (LPDM) in the 594 km× 594 km model domain with the horizontal grid scale of 3 km×3 km centered at a power plant and the Eulerian Transport Model (ETM) modified from t...The Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model (LPDM) in the 594 km× 594 km model domain with the horizontal grid scale of 3 km×3 km centered at a power plant and the Eulerian Transport Model (ETM) modified from the Asian Dust Aerosol Model 2 (ADAM2) in the domain of 70° LAT × 140° LON with the horizontal grid scale of 27 km×27 km have been developed. These models have been implemented to simulate the concentration and deposition of radionuclides (137Cs and 131I) released from the accident of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. It is found that both models are able to simulate quite reasonably the observed concentrations of 137Cs and 131I near the power plant. However, the LPDM model is more useful for the estimation of concentration near the power plant site in details whereas the ETM model is good for the long-range transport processes of the radionuclide plume. The estimated maximum mean surface concentration, column integrated mean concentration and the total deposition (wet+dry) by LPDM for the period from 12 March to 30 April 2011 are, respectively found to be 2.975 × 102 Bq m-3, 3.7 × 107 Bq m-2, and 1.78 × 1014 Bq m-2 for 137Cs and 1.96 × 104 Bq m-3, 2.24 × 109 Bq m-2 and 5.96 × 1014 Bq m-2 for 131I. The radionuclide plumes released from the accident power plant are found to spread wide regions not only the whole model domain of downwind regions but the upwind regions of Russia, Mongolia, Korea, eastern China, Philippines and Vietnam within the analysis period.展开更多
The Fukushima nuclear accident has generated doubts and questions which need to be properly understood and addressed. This scientific attitude became necessary to allow the use of the nuclear technology for electricit...The Fukushima nuclear accident has generated doubts and questions which need to be properly understood and addressed. This scientific attitude became necessary to allow the use of the nuclear technology for electricity generation around the world. The nuclear stakeholders are working to obtain these technical answers for the Fukushima questions. We believe that, such challenges will be, certainly, implemented in the next reactor generation, following the technological evolution. The purpose of this work is to perform a critical analysis of the Fukushima nuclear accident, focusing at the common cause failures produced by tsunami, as well as an analysis of the main redundant systems. This work also assesses the mitigative procedures and the subsequent consequences of such actions, which gave results below expectations to avoid the progression of the accident, discussing the concept of sharing of structures, systems and components at multi-unit nuclear power plants, and its eventual inappropriate use in safety-related devices which can compromise the nuclear safety, as well as its consequent impact on the Fukushima accident scenario. The lessons from Fukushima must be better learned, aiming the development of new procedures and new safety systems. Thus, the nuclear technology could reach a higher evolution level in its safety requirements. This knowledge will establish a conceptual milestone in the safety system design, becoming necessary the review of the current acceptance criteria of safety-related systems.展开更多
The Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 released large amounts of radionuclides, including ^(137)Cs, into the Pacific Ocean. A quasi-global ocean radioactive transport model with horizontal grid spacing of 0.5°...The Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 released large amounts of radionuclides, including ^(137)Cs, into the Pacific Ocean. A quasi-global ocean radioactive transport model with horizontal grid spacing of 0.5°×0.5° and 21 vertical layers was thereafter established to study the long-term transport of the Fukushima-derived ^(137)Cs in the ocean.The simulation shows that the plume of ^(137)Cs would be rapidly transported eastward alongside the Kuroshio Current and its extensions. Contaminated waters with concentrations lower than 2 Bq/m3 would reach the west coast of North America 4 or 5 years after the accident. The ^(137)Cs tends to be carried, despite its very low concentration, into the Indian and South Pacific Oceans by 2016 via various branches of ocean currents.Meanwhile, the ^(137)Cs concentrations in the western part of the North Pacific Ocean decrease rapidly with time. Up to now the highly contaminated waters have remained in the upper 400 m, showing no evidence of significant penetration to deeper layers.展开更多
After the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident on March 11,2011,the radioactivity released from the accident was transported around the globe by atmospheric processes.The radioactivity monitoring program on...After the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident on March 11,2011,the radioactivity released from the accident was transported around the globe by atmospheric processes.The radioactivity monitoring program on atmospheric particulate in Lanzhou,China was activated by GSCDC to detect the input radionuclides through atmospheric transport.Several artificial radionuclides were detected and measured in aerosol samples from March 26 to May 2,2011.The peaked activity concentrations(in m Bq/m3)were:1.194(131I),0.231(137Cs),0.173(134Cs)and 0.008(136Cs),detected on April 6,2011.The average activity ratio of131I/137Cs and134Cs/137Cs in air were 13.5 and 0.78.The significant increase of137Cs activity concentration,one order of magnitude higher than pre-Fukushima accident levels,in ground level aerosol was observed in 2013,as its resuspension from soil.The back-trajectory analysis simulated by NOAA-ARL HYSPLIT shows a direct transfer of the air masses released from Fukushima to Lanzhou across the Pacific Ocean,North America and Europe at the height close to 9000 m AGL.The value of effective dose for inhalation is close to one millionth of the annual limit for the general public.展开更多
Based on the statistics of surface drifter data of 1979–2011 and the simulation of nuclear pollutant particulate movements simulated using high quality ocean reanalysis surface current dataset, the transport pathways...Based on the statistics of surface drifter data of 1979–2011 and the simulation of nuclear pollutant particulate movements simulated using high quality ocean reanalysis surface current dataset, the transport pathways and impact strength of Fukushima nuclear pollutants in the North Pacific have been estimated. The particulates are used to increase the sampling size and enhance the representativeness of statistical results. The trajectories of the drifters and particulates are first examined to identify typical drifting pathways. The results show that there are three types of transport paths for nuclear pollutants at the surface: 1) most pollutant particles move eastward and are carried by the Kuroshio and Kuroshio-extension currents and reach the east side of the North Pacific after about 3.2–3.9 years; 2) some particles travel with the subtropical circulation branch and reach the east coast of China after about 1.6 years according to one drifter trajectory and about 3.6 years according to particulate trajectories; 3) a little of them travel with local, small scale circulations and reach the east coast of China after about 1.3–1.8 years. Based on the particulates, the impact strength of nuclear pollutants at these time scales can be estimated according to the temporal variations of relative concentration combined with the radioactive decay rate. For example, Cesium-137, carried by the strong North Pacific current, mainly accumulates in the eastern North Pacific and its impact strength is 4% of the initial level at the originating Fukushima area after 4 years. Due to local eddies, Cesium-137 in the western North Pacific is 1% of the initial pollutant level after 1.5 years and continuously increases to 3% after 4 years. The vertical movement of radioactive pollutants is not taken into account in the present study, and the estimation accuracy would be improved by considering three-dimensional flows.展开更多
A massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that occurred on March 11, 2011, on Honshu Island, Japan, caused radioactivity leakage from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which led to the leakage of artifi...A massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that occurred on March 11, 2011, on Honshu Island, Japan, caused radioactivity leakage from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which led to the leakage of artificial nuclides(131I, 137 Cs, and 134Cs) and their global transportation by atmospheric circulation. This paper reports a systematic comparative observation on radioactive concentrations of natural nuclides(7Be and 210Pb) and artificial nuclides(131I, 137 Cs, and 134Cs) at the surface level, measured in weekly continuous aerosol sampling at Mount Guanfeng, Guiyang, China, from March 17, 2011 to April 28, 2011. During this period, the variations in the nuclide concentrations associated with their transport paths were analyzed with 315 hour back-trajectories of air mass initialized 500 m above the surface level at Guiyang. The results show that the pollutants of nuclear leakage from the Fukushima accident were transported to the Guiyang region of China via two significant pathways. In the first pathway the first wave of nuclear pollutants were transported from west to east in air masses at higher altitudes via global atmospheric circulation. The nuclear pollutants encircled the Earth almost once and after about 10 days to two weeks, between March 24 and March 31, 2011, intruded Guiyang from the northwestern region of China. In the second pathway, the nuclear pollutants from the Fukushima region arrived at Guiyang between April 7 and April 14, 2011, via air masses at lower altitudes that moved southwards because of the squeezing of the northeast Asian weather system and then by the influence, in succession, of the northeastern and southeastern air currents in the low-latitude region. The first transport pathway for atmospheric pollutants is on a global scale and based on air masses at higher altitudes, and the second transport pathway is on an eastern Asia regional scale and based on the air masses at lower altitude.展开更多
A checking on seismic and tsunami hazard for coastal nuclear power plant (NPP) of Chinese continent has been made after Japanese Fukushima nuclear accident caused by earthquake tsunami. The results of the checking are...A checking on seismic and tsunami hazard for coastal nuclear power plant (NPP) of Chinese continent has been made after Japanese Fukushima nuclear accident caused by earthquake tsunami. The results of the checking are introduced briefly in this paper,including the evaluations of seismic and tsunami hazard in NPP siting period,checking results on seismic and tsunami hazard. Because Chinese coastal area belongs to the continental shelf and far from the boundary of plate collision,the tsunami hazard is not significant for coastal area of Chinese continent. However,the effect from tsunami still can't be excluded absolutely since calculated result of Manila trench tsunami source although the tsunami wave is lower than water level from storm surge. The research about earthquake tsunami will continue in future. The tsunami warning system and emergency program of NPP will be established based on principle of defense in depth in China.展开更多
基金supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number(s)DE-NA0000979by the Director,Office of Energy Research,Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics,Division of Nuclear Physics,of the US Department of Energy under Contract No.DE-AC02-05CH11231.
文摘A variety of environmental media were analyzed for fallout radionuclides resulting from the Fukushima nuclear accident by the Low Background Facility (LBF) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, CA. Monitoring activities in air and rainwater began soon after the onset of the March 11, 2011 tsunami and are reported here through the end of 2012. Observed fallout isotopes include 131I, 132I, 132Te, 134Cs, 136Cs, and 137Cs. Isotopes were measured on environmental air filters, automobile filters, and in rainwater. An additional analysis of rainwater in search of 90Sr is also presented. Last, a series of food measurements conducted in September of 2013 are included due to extended media concerns of 134,137Cs in fish. Similar measurements of fallout from the Chernobyl disaster at LBNL, previously unpublished publicly, are also presented here as a comparison with the Fukushima incident. All measurements presented also include natural radionuclides found in the environment to provide a basis for comparison.
基金This study was supported by the National Natural Science Founda-tion of China(Grant No.71761147001 and 42030707)the Interna-tional Partnership Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.121311KYSB20190029).
文摘After 10 years of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,Japan decided to release the nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on 13 April 2021.It is apparent that Japan has chosen the most cost-efficient way to deal with the contaminated water,however,great opposition and concerns have been raised internationally due to the ecotoxicological features of radioactive materials and their harmful impacts on the environment.Here we an-alyze the ecological impacts caused by the nuclear accident and the potential impacts of releasing the nuclear wastewater into the ocean.Science-based solutions are proposed through a third-party evaluation and strict envi-ronmental assessment,multi-stakeholder public participation,integrated monitoring of the neighboring coastal countries,long-term international collaborative research,and setting up international convention for ecological compensation.
文摘It has been revealed that prolonged shelter life caused by Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident in conjunction with the Great East Japan Earthquake influences sleep and mental health of the residents, and therefore its influence on their physical and emotional health has become a concern. Therefore, in this study, the authors aimed at clarifying actual situations of sleep and stress of middle age males living in shelters for a long period in each of emergency temporary houses and post-earthquake public houses. For 5 males who moved from emergency temporary houses to post-earthquake public houses, their objective and subjective sleep states were measured with Actigraph and PSQI, respectively. Furthermore, their objective and subjective stresses were measured with saliva stress biomarkers and GHQ28, respectively. Their data were analyzed by paired t-test. As result, in comparison between the life in the emergency temporary houses and post-earthquake public houses, significant variation was not recognized in their objective sleep states and saliva stress biomarkers though their subjective sleep and subjective stress were significantly worsened after moving to the post-earthquake public houses.
文摘Various reports indicate that the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism is increasing in developed nations, and that improved detection and more inclusive criteria for the disease do not explain this trend entirely. One risk factor documented in numerous studies is exposure to radioactive iodine found in nuclear weapons test fallout and nuclear reactor emissions. Large amounts of fallout disseminated worldwide from the meltdowns in four reactors at the Fukushima-Dai-ichi plant in Japan beginning March 11, 2011 included radioiodine isotopes. Just days after the meltdowns, I-131 concentrations in US precipitation was measured up to 211 times above normal. Highest levels of I-131 and airborne gross beta were documented in the five US States on the Pacific Ocean. The number of congenital hypothyroid cases in these five states from March 17-December 31, 2011 was 16% greater than for the same period in 2010, compared to a 3% decline in 36 other US States
文摘Radiation exposure has been linked to increased risk of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) for decades. CH is a relatively uncommon condition, occurring in about 1 of 2000 US births. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels for each child born in California permitted an analysis of combined confirmed and borderline CH cases. Borderline/confirmed CH cases are more than seven times greater than just confirmed cases. Airborne levels of gross beta nuclear radiation in the US were elevated in the period starting several days after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, especially in west coast states like California. The borderline/confirmed CH rate for newborns during the last 9.5 months in 2011 (exposed to Fukushima in utero) vs. births during other periods in 2011 and 2012 (not exposed) was significantly elevated, suggesting that adverse health effects to the newborn thyroid were not restricted to just a small number of confirmed CH cases. The sensitivity of the fetus to radiation exposure, plus the presence of thyroid-seeking radioiodine, suggest further analysis of Fukushima’s potential to cause adverse health effects in newborns is needed.
文摘Background: After the March 2011 “triple” disaster in Japan, the residents of Fukushima Prefecture suffered from serious psychological stress. Aims: This study aimed to elucidate the influence of stressful conditions on psychiatric disorders, as reflected in new psychiatric admissions. Methods: Diagnoses and background conditions among new psychiatric admissions during the 3 months immediately after the disaster in 2011 and the corresponding time periods of 2010 and 2012 were surveyed. Results: In 2011, more patients were admitted in confusional, manic, neurasthenic, and delirious states, whereas there were fewer admissions for depression. In 2012, more admissions pertained to depression. Twenty-four percent of the new admissions in 2011 were associated with concerns about radiation contamination and hospitalization, which declined to 4% in 2012. Conclusions: The diagnoses and background conditions among new psychiatric admissions were affected by the disaster;with the influence differing according to the time elapsed after the disaster.
文摘We investigated the link between heat stroke and high air temperature from July to September in 2010 in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Daily data of ambulance transports stratified by heat stroke and the highest air temperature were obtained. Heat stroke was significantly correlated with the highest temperature. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and following tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed many cities in the northwestern part of Japan. Taken together, heat stroke may dramatically increase in Fukushima prefecture, Japan in 2011.
文摘Radioactive fallout after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown entered the U.S. environment within days;levels of radioactivity were particularly elevated in the five western states bordering on the Pacific Ocean. The particular sensitivity of the fetus to radiation exposure, and the ability of radioisotopes to attach to cells, tissues, and DNA raise the question of whether fetuses/newborns with birth defects with the greater exposures suffered elevated harm during the period after the meltdown. We compare rates of five congenital anomalies for 2010 and 2011 births from April-November. The increase of 13.00% in the five western states is significantly greater than the 3.77% decrease for all other U.S. states combined (CI 0.030 - 0.205, p < 0.008). Consistent patterns of elevated increases are observed in the west (20 of 21 comparisons, 6 of which are statistically significant/borderline significant), by state, type of birth defect, month of birth, and month of conception. While these five anomalies are relatively uncommon (about 7500 cases per year in the U.S.), sometimes making statistical significance difficult to achieve, the consistency of the results lend strength to the analysis, and suggest fetal harm from Fukushima may have occurred in western U.S. states.
文摘Several countries are developing and deploying SFRs even after the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Station. However, the Fukushima accident prompted all countries to redefine the fast reactor programs. The drastic safety enhancement is the most important issue to be established. In light of this situation, key essence of the safety improvement is reviewed in this paper by referring the achievements of the recent International Workshop on Prevention and Mitigation of Severe Accidents in SFRs which was held by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June, 2012 and the findings published in the past journals including those of the International Conference on Fast Reactor and Related Fuel Cycles (FR09) held by IAEA in December, 2009.
文摘It is shown that the capture and fission cross-sections of 238U and 239Pu increase with temperature within 1000 K - 3000 K range, in contrast to those of 235U, that under certain conditions may lead to the so-called blow-up modes, stimulating the anomalous neutron flux and nuclear fuel temperature growth. Some features of the blow-up regimes in neutronmultiplying media are discussed.
文摘Concerning the increasing global energy demand, the current paper considers nuclear energy as a solution. Within this context, the 2011 disaster in Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and, particularly, the technical disorders in boiling water reactors are explained. The deficiency of safety technique in boiling water reactors is explained. The deficiencies in safety procedure of this type of reactors manifested during 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami are explained. To complete the discussion, the newer technologies of reactors enabling them to act more safely during natural disasters are introduced. These investigations indicate that despite improvement in the fission reactor technologies, the danger embedded in them still remains. Therefore, the nuclear fusion using Deuterium-Tritium reaction is the best way forward for energy production in the future, and the best candidate of this type of reactors is Tokamak.
文摘The Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model (LPDM) in the 594 km× 594 km model domain with the horizontal grid scale of 3 km×3 km centered at a power plant and the Eulerian Transport Model (ETM) modified from the Asian Dust Aerosol Model 2 (ADAM2) in the domain of 70° LAT × 140° LON with the horizontal grid scale of 27 km×27 km have been developed. These models have been implemented to simulate the concentration and deposition of radionuclides (137Cs and 131I) released from the accident of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. It is found that both models are able to simulate quite reasonably the observed concentrations of 137Cs and 131I near the power plant. However, the LPDM model is more useful for the estimation of concentration near the power plant site in details whereas the ETM model is good for the long-range transport processes of the radionuclide plume. The estimated maximum mean surface concentration, column integrated mean concentration and the total deposition (wet+dry) by LPDM for the period from 12 March to 30 April 2011 are, respectively found to be 2.975 × 102 Bq m-3, 3.7 × 107 Bq m-2, and 1.78 × 1014 Bq m-2 for 137Cs and 1.96 × 104 Bq m-3, 2.24 × 109 Bq m-2 and 5.96 × 1014 Bq m-2 for 131I. The radionuclide plumes released from the accident power plant are found to spread wide regions not only the whole model domain of downwind regions but the upwind regions of Russia, Mongolia, Korea, eastern China, Philippines and Vietnam within the analysis period.
文摘The Fukushima nuclear accident has generated doubts and questions which need to be properly understood and addressed. This scientific attitude became necessary to allow the use of the nuclear technology for electricity generation around the world. The nuclear stakeholders are working to obtain these technical answers for the Fukushima questions. We believe that, such challenges will be, certainly, implemented in the next reactor generation, following the technological evolution. The purpose of this work is to perform a critical analysis of the Fukushima nuclear accident, focusing at the common cause failures produced by tsunami, as well as an analysis of the main redundant systems. This work also assesses the mitigative procedures and the subsequent consequences of such actions, which gave results below expectations to avoid the progression of the accident, discussing the concept of sharing of structures, systems and components at multi-unit nuclear power plants, and its eventual inappropriate use in safety-related devices which can compromise the nuclear safety, as well as its consequent impact on the Fukushima accident scenario. The lessons from Fukushima must be better learned, aiming the development of new procedures and new safety systems. Thus, the nuclear technology could reach a higher evolution level in its safety requirements. This knowledge will establish a conceptual milestone in the safety system design, becoming necessary the review of the current acceptance criteria of safety-related systems.
基金The China-Korea Cooperation Project on the Development of Oceanic Monitoring and Prediction System on Nuclear Safetythe Youth Foundation of the First Institute of Oceanography(FIO),State Oceanic Administration of China,under contract Nos GY0215P01 and GY2015P03+3 种基金the Project of the National Programme on Global Change and Air-sea Interaction under contract No.GASI-03-IPOVAI-05the NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund of Marine Science Research Centers of China under contract No.U1406404the National Natural Science Foundation of China Project under contract No.41506035the KIOST Project under contract No.PE99304
文摘The Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 released large amounts of radionuclides, including ^(137)Cs, into the Pacific Ocean. A quasi-global ocean radioactive transport model with horizontal grid spacing of 0.5°×0.5° and 21 vertical layers was thereafter established to study the long-term transport of the Fukushima-derived ^(137)Cs in the ocean.The simulation shows that the plume of ^(137)Cs would be rapidly transported eastward alongside the Kuroshio Current and its extensions. Contaminated waters with concentrations lower than 2 Bq/m3 would reach the west coast of North America 4 or 5 years after the accident. The ^(137)Cs tends to be carried, despite its very low concentration, into the Indian and South Pacific Oceans by 2016 via various branches of ocean currents.Meanwhile, the ^(137)Cs concentrations in the western part of the North Pacific Ocean decrease rapidly with time. Up to now the highly contaminated waters have remained in the upper 400 m, showing no evidence of significant penetration to deeper layers.
基金Supported by the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization(No.CTBTO/IMS/CNP21)
文摘After the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident on March 11,2011,the radioactivity released from the accident was transported around the globe by atmospheric processes.The radioactivity monitoring program on atmospheric particulate in Lanzhou,China was activated by GSCDC to detect the input radionuclides through atmospheric transport.Several artificial radionuclides were detected and measured in aerosol samples from March 26 to May 2,2011.The peaked activity concentrations(in m Bq/m3)were:1.194(131I),0.231(137Cs),0.173(134Cs)and 0.008(136Cs),detected on April 6,2011.The average activity ratio of131I/137Cs and134Cs/137Cs in air were 13.5 and 0.78.The significant increase of137Cs activity concentration,one order of magnitude higher than pre-Fukushima accident levels,in ground level aerosol was observed in 2013,as its resuspension from soil.The back-trajectory analysis simulated by NOAA-ARL HYSPLIT shows a direct transfer of the air masses released from Fukushima to Lanzhou across the Pacific Ocean,North America and Europe at the height close to 9000 m AGL.The value of effective dose for inhalation is close to one millionth of the annual limit for the general public.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program (Grant No.2013CB430304)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.41206178, 41030854, 41106005, 41176003 and 41306006)the National High-Tech R&D Program of China (No.2013 AA09A505)
文摘Based on the statistics of surface drifter data of 1979–2011 and the simulation of nuclear pollutant particulate movements simulated using high quality ocean reanalysis surface current dataset, the transport pathways and impact strength of Fukushima nuclear pollutants in the North Pacific have been estimated. The particulates are used to increase the sampling size and enhance the representativeness of statistical results. The trajectories of the drifters and particulates are first examined to identify typical drifting pathways. The results show that there are three types of transport paths for nuclear pollutants at the surface: 1) most pollutant particles move eastward and are carried by the Kuroshio and Kuroshio-extension currents and reach the east side of the North Pacific after about 3.2–3.9 years; 2) some particles travel with the subtropical circulation branch and reach the east coast of China after about 1.6 years according to one drifter trajectory and about 3.6 years according to particulate trajectories; 3) a little of them travel with local, small scale circulations and reach the east coast of China after about 1.3–1.8 years. Based on the particulates, the impact strength of nuclear pollutants at these time scales can be estimated according to the temporal variations of relative concentration combined with the radioactive decay rate. For example, Cesium-137, carried by the strong North Pacific current, mainly accumulates in the eastern North Pacific and its impact strength is 4% of the initial level at the originating Fukushima area after 4 years. Due to local eddies, Cesium-137 in the western North Pacific is 1% of the initial pollutant level after 1.5 years and continuously increases to 3% after 4 years. The vertical movement of radioactive pollutants is not taken into account in the present study, and the estimation accuracy would be improved by considering three-dimensional flows.
基金financially supported jointly by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41175115)the EML of the United States of America
文摘A massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale that occurred on March 11, 2011, on Honshu Island, Japan, caused radioactivity leakage from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which led to the leakage of artificial nuclides(131I, 137 Cs, and 134Cs) and their global transportation by atmospheric circulation. This paper reports a systematic comparative observation on radioactive concentrations of natural nuclides(7Be and 210Pb) and artificial nuclides(131I, 137 Cs, and 134Cs) at the surface level, measured in weekly continuous aerosol sampling at Mount Guanfeng, Guiyang, China, from March 17, 2011 to April 28, 2011. During this period, the variations in the nuclide concentrations associated with their transport paths were analyzed with 315 hour back-trajectories of air mass initialized 500 m above the surface level at Guiyang. The results show that the pollutants of nuclear leakage from the Fukushima accident were transported to the Guiyang region of China via two significant pathways. In the first pathway the first wave of nuclear pollutants were transported from west to east in air masses at higher altitudes via global atmospheric circulation. The nuclear pollutants encircled the Earth almost once and after about 10 days to two weeks, between March 24 and March 31, 2011, intruded Guiyang from the northwestern region of China. In the second pathway, the nuclear pollutants from the Fukushima region arrived at Guiyang between April 7 and April 14, 2011, via air masses at lower altitudes that moved southwards because of the squeezing of the northeast Asian weather system and then by the influence, in succession, of the northeastern and southeastern air currents in the low-latitude region. The first transport pathway for atmospheric pollutants is on a global scale and based on air masses at higher altitudes, and the second transport pathway is on an eastern Asia regional scale and based on the air masses at lower altitude.
文摘A checking on seismic and tsunami hazard for coastal nuclear power plant (NPP) of Chinese continent has been made after Japanese Fukushima nuclear accident caused by earthquake tsunami. The results of the checking are introduced briefly in this paper,including the evaluations of seismic and tsunami hazard in NPP siting period,checking results on seismic and tsunami hazard. Because Chinese coastal area belongs to the continental shelf and far from the boundary of plate collision,the tsunami hazard is not significant for coastal area of Chinese continent. However,the effect from tsunami still can't be excluded absolutely since calculated result of Manila trench tsunami source although the tsunami wave is lower than water level from storm surge. The research about earthquake tsunami will continue in future. The tsunami warning system and emergency program of NPP will be established based on principle of defense in depth in China.
