Isolation, characterization and source analysis of radiocaesium micro-particles in soil sample collected from vicinity of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

Radioactive caesium was released during the accident of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) into the surrounding environment. In the current work, radiocaesium micro-particles (CsMPs) and radiocaesium-rich soil particles were selectively separated from soil particles as well as from each other using autoradiography-based procedure. The applied separation scheme is based on water dilution followed by drying of the soil sample prior to imaging plate autoradiography.