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扰乱了福岛第一核电站的冷却系统。据报道，该地点周围的陆地和海洋以及食物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，那里的I-131被认为在3月21日至22日增加到可检测的水平，并且还在继续增加。通过快速反应研究拨款(RAPID)，伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的研究人员将利用从东到西的采样站网络建立大西洋和太平洋的基线放射性核素数据集，他们有能力在那里定期采样。到目前为止，首席调查员已经接触并安排抽样援助的地点包括：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离现场更近的地点。情报价值：在人为放射性核素意外泄漏后建立早期活动是了解泄漏的规模和公共卫生问题的关键，并为社区在随后的研究中使用寿命较长的放射性核素作为示踪剂奠定基础，以了解海洋过程。为了正确看待福岛第一核电站的总潜在来源，所有的大气武器试验都在1950年？S和60年？S释放了3600万居里的Cs-137，切尔诺贝利的100万-300万居里，以及三里岛只有10居里。在福岛，反应堆堆芯中Cs-137的潜在来源是6700万居里和乏燃料池中的1.8亿居里。广泛影响：该项目期间收集的数据将在两次科学会议上与更大的社区共享，并储存在适当的数据库中(WHOI BCO-DMO和原子能机构全球海洋放射性数据库)。采样网络可以用来通知决策者要考虑的渔业和人类健康的放射性水平。与日本的合作对于沿海水域获取数据和采样的工作的成功至关重要，WHOI小组将在先前NSF资助(眩晕项目)下与JAMSTEC建立现有关系的基础上再接再厉。他们还将包括其他日本大学和国家实验室，这些大学和国家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共享数据。除了建立国际关系，与夏威夷大学的H.Dulaiova的合作还将指导美国大学的初级教职员工和学生。为应对日本危机，国际和平协会已经帮助世界卫生组织建立了一个网站，并接受了媒体(网络、印刷、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很高，这些结果需要放在自然辐射源、暴露的规模和途径以及对社会的相对风险的背景下加以考虑。

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.