Dissolution behaviour of radiocaesium-bearing microparticles released from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

ABSTRACT: Radiocaesium-bearing microparticles (CsMPs) composed of silicate glass were released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011. Since CsMPs contain a high concentration of radiocaesium, their dynamics and fate in the environment are urgent issues to be investigated. Here, we show that CsMPs are dissolved by weathering in the environment and that their radioactivity is more rapidly decreased by dissolution than the physical decay of radiocaesium. We conducted dissolution experiments with CsMPs in pure water that absorbed CO₂ from the atmosphere and in artificial seawater at several temperatures. The dissolution progress was monitored by the decrease in the ¹³⁷Cs radioactivity in CsMPs, and the dissolution rate was estimated. The activation ene

SUBMITTER: Okumura T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6401112 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature