Caesium-rich micro-particles: A window into the meltdown events at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

ABSTRACT: The nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) in March 2011 caused partial meltdowns of three reactors. During the meltdowns, a type of condensed particle, a caesium-rich micro-particle (CsMP), formed inside the reactors via unknown processes. Here we report the chemical and physical processes of CsMP formation inside the reactors during the meltdowns based on atomic-resolution electron microscopy of CsMPs discovered near the FDNPP. All of the CsMPs (with sizes of 2.0-3.4 μm) comprise SiO₂ glass matrices and ~10-nm-sized Zn-Fe-oxide nanoparticles associated with a wide range of Cs concentrations (1.1-19 wt% Cs as Cs₂O). Trace amounts of U are also associated with the Zn-Fe oxides. The nano-texture in the CsMPs records multiple reaction-proc

SUBMITTER: Furuki G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5309886 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature