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

RAPID：确定大西洋和太平洋源自福岛第一核电站的放射性核素水平

• 批准号: 1136693
• 负责人: Ken Buesseler
• 金额: $ 15.76万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-05-15 至 2012-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1136693&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Establishing; Radionuclide; Levels; Atlantic

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.

2011 年 3 月 11 日的日本地震和随后的海啸损坏并破坏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品供应和饮用水均受到污染。在美国上空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，截至 3 月 21 日至 22 日，I-131 已增加至可检测水平，并且仍在继续增加。通过快速响应研究拨款 (RAPID) 的资助，伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的研究人员将使用东部数据建立大西洋和太平洋的基线放射性核素数据集。 西部采样站网络，他们有能力定期采样。迄今为止，首席研究员已经联系并安排采样协助的地点包括：百慕大、WHOI、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距离该地点更近的地点。 智力优点：在人造放射性核素意外释放后建立早期活动对于了解释放的严重程度和公共卫生问题以及为使用长寿的放射性核素奠定基础至关重要。 放射性核素作为后续研究中的示踪剂，以了解海洋过程。从福岛第一核电站潜在的总排放量来看，20世纪50年代和60年代的所有大气武器测试都释放了3600万居里的Cs-137，切尔诺贝利核电站释放了1-300万居里，而三哩岛仅释放了10居里。在福岛，反应堆堆芯中 Cs-137 的潜在来源为 6700 万居里，乏燃料池中的 1.8 亿居里。 更广泛的影响：该项目期间收集的数据将在两次科学会议上与更广泛的群体共享，并存放在适当的数据库（WHOI BCO-DMO 和 IAEA 全球海洋放射性数据库 (GLOMARD)）中。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。与日本的合作对于沿海水域数据获取和采样工作的成功非常重要，WHOI 团队将建立在先前 NSF 资助（VERTIGO 项目）下与 JAMSTEC 建立的现有关系的基础上。其中还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。除了建立国际关系之外，与夏威夷大学 H. Dulaiova 的合作还将为美国大学的初级教师和学生提供指导。该 PI 已经帮助 WHOI 开发了一个网站以应对日本危机，并接受了多次媒体采访（网络、印刷、电视）。由于人们对放射性的焦虑程度很高，公众宣传非常重要，并且需要将这些结果置于自然辐射源、暴露的规模和途径以及对社会的相对风险的背景下。