RAPID: Establishing Radionuclide Levels in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Originating from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Facility

2011年3月11日的日本地震和随后的海啸破坏并中断了福岛第一核电站的冷却系统。据报道，该地点周围的土地和海洋以及食品供应和饮用水受到污染。在美国的大气中检测到少量但可测量的放射性，包括在伍兹霍尔海洋研究所收集的气溶胶样本，在那里，I-131被认为在3月21日至22日增加到可检测的水平，并继续增加。伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的调查人员将利用有能力定期取样的东西向取样站网络，建立大西洋和太平洋的基线放射性核素数据集。迄今为止，主要研究员已与以下地点取得联系并安排了取样援助：百慕大、世界卫生组织、圣巴巴拉海峡、夏威夷、中途岛、关岛以及与日本科学家合作的更靠近该地点的地点。在人为放射性核素意外释放后确定早期活动是了解释放规模和公共卫生问题的关键，并为社区在以后的研究中使用寿命较长的放射性核素作为示踪剂以了解海洋过程奠定基础。从总体上看，福岛第一核电站的潜在来源，1950年所有的大气层武器试验？s和60？年代释放了3600万居里的Cs-137，切尔诺贝利1-3百万居里，三里岛只有10居里。在福岛，反应堆堆芯中的铯-137的潜在来源为6 700万居里，乏燃料池中的铯-137的潜在来源为1.8亿居里，更广泛的影响：在这一项目期间收集的数据将在两次科学会议上与更大的社区分享，并存入适当的数据库（世界卫生组织海洋观测组织-灾害管理组织和原子能机构全球海洋放射性数据库）。采样网络可用于向决策者通报放射性水平，以考虑渔业和人类健康。与日本的合作对于在沿海沃茨获取数据和取样的努力取得成功至关重要，世界卫生组织工作队将利用在先前国家科学基金资助下与日本海洋科学研究所建立的现有关系（垂直生物学项目）。他们还将包括其他日本大学和国家实验室，这些实验室正在监测空气、陆地和海洋中的放射性核素，并与更广泛的国际社会分享数据。除了建立国际关系，与H。杜莱奥娃在美国。夏威夷将为美国一所大学的初级教师和学生提供指导。PI已经帮助WHOI开发了一个网站，以应对日本的危机，并接受了媒体（网络、印刷品、电视）的几次采访。公众宣传很重要，因为人们对放射性的焦虑情绪高涨，这些结果需要结合自然辐射源、照射的规模和途径以及对社会的相对风险来考虑。

The March 11, 2011 earthquake in Japan and the subsequent tsunami damaged and disrupted cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. Contamination of land and seas surrounding the site, as well as food supplies and drinking water, is being reported. Small but measurable quantities of radioactivity have been detected in the atmosphere over the US, including aerosol samples collected at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where I-131 was seen to increase to detectable levels as of March 21-22, and is continuing to increase.With funding through this Grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID), investigators at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will establish a baseline radionuclide data set for the Atlantic and Pacific using an east to west network of sampling stations where they have the ability to sample regularly. The sites where the principal investigator has thus far made contact and has arrangements for sampling assistance include: Bermuda, WHOI, Santa Barbara Channel, Hawaii, Midway, Guam, and closer to the site in collaboration with Japanese scientists.Intellectual Merit: Establishing early activities after an accidental release of man-made radionuclides is key to understanding both the magnitude of the release and public health issues, as well as setting the stage for the use of the longer lived radionuclides as tracers in subsequent studies by the community to understand ocean processes. To put the total potential Fukushima Daiichi source in perspective, all of the atmospheric weapons testing in the 1950?s and 60?s released 36 million Curies of Cs-137, Chernobyl 1-3 million Curies, and Three Mile Island only 10 Curies. At Fukushima, the potential source of Cs-137 in the reactor cores is 67 million Curies and 180 million Curies in the spent fuel ponds.Broader Impacts: Data collected during this project will be shared with the larger community at both scientific meetings and deposited in appropriate data bases (WHOI BCO-DMO and IAEA Global Marine Radioactivity Database (GLOMARD)). The sampling network can be used to inform policy makers of radioactivity levels to consider for fisheries and human health. Collaboration with the Japanese is important to the success of this effort for both access to data and sampling in coastal waters, and the WHOI team will build upon existing relationships with JAMSTEC established under prior NSF funding (VERTIGO project). They will also include other Japanese universities and national labs that are monitoring radionuclides in air, land and oceans, as well as share data with the broader international community. In addition to building international relationships, the collaboration with H. Dulaiova at U. Hawaii will serve to mentor junior faculty and students at a U.S. university. The PI has already helped develop a web site at WHOI in response to the Japanese crisis and had several interviews with the media (web, print, TV). Public outreach is important as anxieties over radioactivity run high, and these results need to be put in context of natural sources of radiation, the scales and pathways of exposure and relative risks to society.