Elevated radioxenon detected remotely following the Fukushima nuclear accident

We report on the first measurements of short-lived gaseous fission products detected outside of Japan following the Fukushima nuclear releases, which occurred after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The measurements were conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental radioactivity 2011-07, Vol.102 (7), p.681-687
Main Authors: Bowyer, T.W., Biegalski, S.R., Cooper, M., Eslinger, P.W., Haas, D., Hayes, J.C., Miley, H.S., Strom, D.J., Woods, V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accident detection
Accidents
Air Pollutants, Radioactive - chemistry
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Background Radiation
EARTHQUAKES
Exact sciences and technology
FISSION PRODUCTS
Fukushima
Fukushima Nuclear Accident
GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
Isotopes
JAPAN
Noble gas
Northwest
Nuclear accidents
Nuclear Reactors
Pollutants physicochemistry study: properties, effects, reactions, transport and distribution
Pollution
Radiation Monitoring
Radioactive Fallout - analysis
Radioactive Hazard Release
Radioactivity
Radioxenon
Reactor accident
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
Seismic phenomena
short-lived gaseous fission products
Stockpiling
Time Factors
TSUNAMIS
United States
XENON
XENON 133
Xenon Radioisotopes - chemistry
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Summary:We report on the first measurements of short-lived gaseous fission products detected outside of Japan following the Fukushima nuclear releases, which occurred after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The measurements were conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), (46°16′47″N, 119°16′53″W) located more than 7000 km from the emission point in Fukushima Japan (37°25′17″N, 141°1′57″E). First detections of 133Xe were made starting early March 16, only four days following the earthquake. Maximum concentrations of 133Xe were in excess of 40 Bq/m 3, which is more than ×40,000 the average concentration of this isotope is this part of the United States. ► First measurements of radioactivity detected outside of Japan following the nuclear reactor accident. ► High level description of the accident and the use of noble gas as an isotope that can be detected long range. ► Determination of the inventory of xenon-133 released from the accident.
ISSN:0265-931X
1879-1700
DOI:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.04.009