Review articleAn overview of current knowledge concerning the health and environmental consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident
Introduction
The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) in Japan on March 11, 2011 resulted in a release of about 73 radionuclides (135 in total including radioactive progeny) (IRSN, 2012). It was a direct consequence of a high-magnitude earthquake (~ 9.0), which occurred in the Pacific Ocean near Japan's east coast, creating two massive tsunamis that in turn struck Japan about 1 h following the earthquake (Akahane et al., 2012). The main electric power grid was disabled by the earthquake and seawater intrusion to the backup power supply caused power loss and the cooling systems of the four nuclear reactors were disrupted, leading to increased pressure levels and the production of hydrogen gas due to the extreme heating of the cooling water. During the following days, hydrogen explosions released large amounts of radioactivity into the atmosphere. Fearing more severe damage and larger releases, plant managers ordered seawater to be used as a cooling medium (IRSN, 2012). This highly radioactive water was discharged to the Pacific Ocean, with discharges (to both land and sea) ongoing more than three years following the accident (Kumamoto et al., 2015).
Subsequently, several studies were conducted to document global transport and deposition of the most important fallout radionuclides (e.g. Christoudias and Lelieveld, 2013, Evangeliou et al., 2013b, Kristiansen et al., 2012) and the potential impacts to human populations (e.g. Evangeliou et al., 2014a, Ten Hoeve and Jacobson, 2012, WHO, 2013) and to animals and plants (e.g. Aliyu et al., 2015a, Evrard et al., 2012, Garnier-Laplace et al., 2011, Hiyama et al., 2012, Møller et al., 2012, Møller and Mousseau, 2011b). Simultaneously, many research groups initiated experimental monitoring programs to assess potential consequences in Europe, Asia, USA and Japan (e.g. Evrard et al., 2012, Kim et al., 2012, Kinoshita et al., 2011, Kritidis et al., 2012, Long et al., 2012, MacMullin et al., 2012, Paatero et al., 2012, Pham et al., 2012, Povinec et al., 2012a).
Some of the major radioactive fission products released into the atmosphere and the ocean included 131I (t1/2 = 8.02 days), 134Cs (t1/2 = 2.06 years), 137Cs (t1/2 = 30.07 years) and 90Sr (t1/2 = 28.78 years), which were then dispersed globally by the prevailing winds (Masson et al., 2011) resulting in the contamination of both terrestrial and marine ecosystems (Butler, 2011, Chino et al., 2011, NSCJ, 2011).
Many fundamental questions concerning the FDNPP accident still need to be resolved. For example, what was the exact amount of the released radioactivity? How is the environment being affected? What are the predicted consequences for human populations? The present paper aims to review the existing literature related to the FDNPP accident in order to address these questions. Furthermore, we hope to stimulate further discussion among the scientific and regulatory communities concerned with nuclear safety and radiation protection (e.g., CTBTO, IAEA, UNSCEAR, ICRP, etc.).
Section snippets
Methods of literature search
The discussion in this paper is based on keyword searches in Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science. The keywords ‘source term’, ‘radioactive contamination’, ‘human health’ and ‘biota’ were combined with the primary keyword ‘Fukushima’ during literature searches. The inclusion criteria for all publications were as follows: (i) they discuss the release of radionuclides from FDNPP to the air or sea; (ii) they highlight the impacts of the FDNPP accident on either human or non-human biota; (iii)
Source term assessment
Following the FDNPP accident, there was much public concern about the release of radioactivity into the atmosphere and ocean, and many independent groups attempted to estimate total release amounts. For the releases to the atmosphere, the Japanese government estimated the source terms for 131I and 137Cs to be 160 PBq and 15 PBq, respectively (RJG, 2011). The Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan (NSCJ) estimated that the total amounts of 131I and 137Cs released into the atmosphere were 150 PBq and 12
Atmospheric transport and deposition of Fukushima derived radionuclides
Once the radioactive fallout was injected into the atmosphere, its trajectory was dispersed globally by the prevailing winds (Bolsunovsky and Dementyev, 2011, Huh et al., 2012, Leon et al., 2011, Manolopoulou et al., 2011, Pittauerová et al., 2011). Aerosol species were removed from the atmosphere by wet and dry processes, whereas noble gases were only lost due to radioactive decay. Evangeliou et al. (2013b) used the atmospheric transport model LMDZORINCA to simulate the global dispersion of
Impacts of the FDNPP accident on humans
Given that the potential health effects of the FDNPP accident will likely be of great social and economic importance for decades to come, modeling of predicted doses can be a useful tool for a preliminary assessment of the health risks. Table 3 illustrates the predicted health effects of the FDNPP accident on local and global populations. In all cases, a Linear Non Threshold (LNT) model of human exposure was used to calculate potential radiological health effects. This model assumes that the
Impacts of FDNPP accident on marine ecosystems
Contamination of the marine environment following the FDNPP accident represents the most important anthropogenic radioactive release into the sea ever recorded, on par with fallout from atomic bomb testing. The radioactive marine pollution came from atmospheric fallout onto the ocean and direct release of contaminated water from the plant.
In the immediate vicinity of the plant, Cs levels of the ocean surface at the point of discharge showed up to 103 times higher activities than had been
Impacts of FDNPP accident on terrestrial ecosystems
Although it is perhaps fortunate for the people of Japan that due to prevailing meteorological conditions at the time of the accident, the bulk of radioactive emissions were transported to the ocean (Evangeliou et al., 2014b), there is a growing body of literature that documents a range of physiological, developmental, genetic, morphological, and behavioral consequences of exposure to anthropogenic radioactivity derived from the FDNPP accident on the terrestrial flora and fauna of the Fukushima
Application of isotopes as tracers for environmental processes
Natural and anthropogenic radionuclides can be used as tracers for environmental processes, particularly oceanic transportation and water mixing. In the oceans, the behavior of cesium is thought to be conservative; that is, it is soluble (with only a small fraction adsorbed to marine particulates) and is carried primarily with ocean waters. As such, cesium has been used as a tracer of water mass mixing and transport (Aoyama et al., 2011, Bowen et al., 1980, Buesseler et al., 1991). Following
Conclusions
Despite the large number of studies aimed at assessing the impacts of the FDNPP accident, considerable uncertainty remains concerning all aspects of this disaster. Source term estimates vary from 12 to 36.7 PBq for 137Cs and 150 to 160 PBq for 131I. Predictions of human health impacts range to 10,000 estimated deaths, and 1500 and 1800 maximum cancer mortalities and morbidities. Studies of terrestrial systems, although few, have revealed possible significant impacts on some species, notably birds
Acknowledgments
A.S. Aliyu wishes to acknowledge the support of the Research Management Center of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for its support through the Post Doc fellowship scheme under the project number (Q.J130000.21A2.01E98). Support for TAM has been provided by the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust and the University of South Carolina College of Arts & Sciences. The authors are grateful to Elizabeth Farnsworth (of Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts) for help with manuscript editing.
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