Identification and temporal decrease of Cs and Cs in groundwater in Minami-Soma City following the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident on March 11, 2011, caused severe radioactive contamination in Fukushima Prefecture. In order to clarify the safety of drinking water, we have conducted radiocesium monitoring of public tap water and groundwater in Minami-Soma City, which is 10-40 km north of the nuclear power plant. The source of tap water for Minami-Soma City is groundwater, which is treated by rapid filtration before distribution in two of the three treatment plants.

Calculation of coincidence summing in gamma-ray spectrometry with the EGS5 code.

Coincidence summing correction factors, including not only γ-γ and X-γ, but also β-γ and conversion electron-γ, coincidences were calculated by Monte Carlo simulation of decay schemes by using the EGS5 code. A large contribution from β-rays to the factors was found for Na for the n-type detector in the case of close source-to-detector geometry with a point source.

Uranium-236 as a new oceanic tracer: A first depth profile in the Japan Sea and comparison with caesium-137.

We present a feasibility study for using U as an oceanic circulation tracer based on depth profiles of U and Cs in the Japan/East Sea. The concentration of the predominantly anthropogenic U, measured with Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), decreased from (13±3)×10 atom/kg in surface water to (1.6±0.

Paddy-field contamination with 134Cs and 137Cs due to Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident and soil-to-rice transfer coefficients.

The transfer coefficient (TF) from soil to rice plants of (134)Cs and (137)Cs in the form of radioactive deposition from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in March 2011 was investigated in three rice paddy fields in Minami-Soma City. Rice crops were planted in the following May and harvested at the end of September. Soil cores of 30-cm depth were sampled from rice-planted paddy fields to measure (134)Cs and (137)Cs radioactivity at 5-cm intervals.

Early radiation survey of Iitate village, which was heavily contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi accident, conducted on 28 and 29 March 2011.

Following the news that the radiation level in Iitate Village, located 25-45 km from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, was seriously increased, an urgent field survey was carried out on 28 and 29 March 2011. Radiation levels at 130 locations were measured inside a van that traveled throughout the village using a CsI pocket survey meter and an ionization chamber. Soil samples were also taken at five locations and submitted to gamma ray analysis using a Ge detector.

Radiation doses among residents living 37 km northwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant.

External and internal radiation doses were estimated for 15 residents who lived approximately 37 km northwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, which released radioactive plumes on March 11, 2011 as the result of the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami damage. Residents were interviewed on where they stayed and what they ate after the incident. To estimate external dose, the air dose rate around each person's home was measured, and cumulative effective doses up to 54 d after the deposition were calculated.

Isotope ratios of (235)U/(238)U and (137)Cs/(235)U in black rain streaks on plaster wall caused by fallout of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Radiological investigations of fallout from the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima city on 6 August 1945 are important to estimate doses for inhabitants. The authors have analyzed the concentrations of (137)Cs, (235)U, and (238)U in streaks of black rain caused by the atomic bomb using gamma-ray spectroscopy and the ICP-QMS method. The black rain streaks were deposited on a plaster wall of a house located 3.

Estimation of beta-ray skin dose from exposure to fission fallout from the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Beta-ray skin dose due to the fission fallout from the Hiroshima atomic bomb is potentially related to the epilation in the black rain area. The absorbed dose to the skin from beta-rays emitted by fission fallout has been estimated for an initial ¹³⁷Cs deposition of 1 kBq m⁻² on the ground at 0.5 h after the explosion.

Measurement of microdosimetric spectra produced from a 290 MeV/n Spread Out Bragg Peak carbon beam.

This study describes measurements on secondary particles produced by a 290 MeV/n Spread Out Bragg Peak (SOBP) carbon beam. Microdosimetric distributions of secondary fragments from the SOBP carbon beam have been measured by using a new tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) system at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences. The new TEPC system consists of a TEPC, two solid-state detectors (SSD) and a scintillation counter (FSC: forward scintillation counter).

Dose rate estimation around a 60Co gamma-ray irradiation source by means of 115mIn photoactivation.

Photoactivation of nuclear isomer (115m)In with a halflife of 4.48 h occurs by (60)Co gamma-ray irradiation. This is because the resonance gamma-ray absorption occurs at 1078 keV level for stable (115)In, and that energy gamma-rays are produced by Compton scattering of (60)Co primary gamma-rays.

Microdosimetry on a mini-reactor UTR-KINKI for educational uses and biological researches.

Microdosimetry study has been carried out at the education and research mini-reactor of Kinki University (UTR-KINKI) using a tissue equivalent gas proportional counter (TEPC). The microdosimetric single event spectra for 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 5 microm site sizes were obtained in the lineal energy range from 1 to 1000 keV/microm.

Skin dose from neutron-activated soil for early entrants following the A-bomb detonation in Hiroshima: contribution from beta and gamma rays.

Epilation was reported among atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including "early entrance survivors" who entered the cities after the bombings. The absorbed dose to the skin by neutron-activated soil via beta and gamma rays has been estimated in a preliminary fashion, for these survivors in Hiroshima. Estimation was done for external exposures from activated soil on the ground as well as skin and hair contamination from activated soil particles, using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNP-4C.

Gamma-ray exposure from neutron-induced radionuclides in soil in Hiroshima and Nagasaki based on DS02 calculations.

As a result of joint efforts by Japanese, US and German scientists, the Dosimetry System 2002 (DS02) was developed as a new dosimetry system, to evaluate individual radiation dose to atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although the atomic bomb radiation consisted of initial radiation and residual radiation, only initial radiation was reevaluated in DS02 because, for most survivors in the life span study group, the residual dose was negligible compared to the initial dose. It was reported, however, that there were individuals who entered the city at the early stage after the explosion and experienced hemorrhage, diarrhea, etc.

Microdosimetric study for secondary neutrons in phantom produced by a 290 MeV/nucleon carbon beam.

Absorbed doses from main charged-particle beams and charged-particle fragments have been measured with high accuracy for particle therapy, but there are few reports for doses from neutron components produced as fragments. This study describes the measurements on neutron doses produced by carbon beams; microdosimetric distributions of secondary neutrons produced by 290 MeV/nucleon carbon beams have been measured by using a tissue equivalent proportional counter at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, Japan at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences. The microdosimetric distributions of the secondary neutron were measured on the distal and lateral faces of a body-simulated acrylic phantom (300 mm height x 300 mm width x 253 mm thickness).

Microdosimetric evaluation of secondary particles in a phantom produced by carbon 290 MeV/nucleon ions at HIMAC.

Microdosimetric single event spectra as a function of depth in a phantom for the 290 MeV/nucleon therapeutic carbon beam at HIMAC were measured by using a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC). Two types of geometries were used: one is a fragment particle identification measurement (PID-mode) with time of flight (TOF) method without a backward phantom, and the other is an in-phantom measurement (IPM-mode) with a backward phantom. On the PID-mode geometry, fragments produced by carbon beam in a phantom are identified by the DeltaE-TOF distribution between two scintillation counters positioned up- and down-stream relative to the tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC).

Microdosimetric evaluation of the 400 MeV/nucleon carbon beam at HIMAC.

Microdosimetric single event spectra were determined as a function of depth in an acrylic phantom for the carbon beam at HIMAC using a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) coupled to a scintillation counter system. The fragments produced by the carbon beam were identified by the deltaE-time of flight distribution obtained from two scintillation counters which were positioned at the up- and down-stream of the TEPC. Lineal energy distribution for the carbon beam and its five fragments, namely, proton, helium, lithium, beryllium, and boron ions, were measured in the lineal-energy range of 5-1000 keV/microm at five phantom depths between 0 and 230 mm.

Deep underground measurements of 60Co in steel exposed to the Hiroshima atomic bomb explosion.

When using gamma-ray spectrometry performed deep underground, it is possible to measure 60Co activities down to 0.1 mBq in steel samples of some 100 g without any pre-concentration. It is thus still possible to measure 60Co induced by neutrons from the atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima in pieces of steel collected at distances up to about 1200 m slant range.

Measurement of residual 152Eu activity induced by atomic bomb neutrons in Nagasaki and the contribution of environmental neutrons to this activity.

Residual 152Eu activities induced by neutrons from the Nagasaki atomic bomb were measured for nine mineral samples located up to 1,061 m in the slant range and one control sample at 2,850 m from the hypocenter. A chemical separation to prepare europium-enriched samples was performed for all samples, and gamma ray measurements were carried out with a low background well-type germanium detector. In this paper, the measured specific activities of 152Eu are compared with activation calculations based on the DS86 neutron fluence and the 93Rev one.

Measurement of residual 60Co activity induced by atomic-bomb neutrons in Nagasaki and background contribution by environmental neutrons.

Residual 60Co activity in five steel samples induced by neutrons from the Nagasaki atomic bomb has been measured within about 1000 m from the hypocenter. The chemical separation of cobalt and nickel from steel samples was performed, and cobalt-enriched samples were prepared for all samples. Gamma-ray measurements were carried out with a low-background well-type germanium detector.

Dosimetry of fission neutrons in a 1-W reactor, UTR-KINKI.

The energy spectrum of fission neutrons in the biological irradiation field of the Kinki University reactor, UTR-KINKI, has been determined by a multi-foil activation analysis coupled with artificial neural network techniques and a Au-foil activation method. The mean neutron energy was estimated to be 1.26 +/- 0.

Anomalous 235U/238U ratios and metal elements detected in the black rain from the Hiroshima A-bomb.

Contents of black rain from the A-bomb are important to clarify the health and environmental hazard caused by nuclear warfare. We analyzed the only existing physical remains of the black rain from Hiroshima A-bomb (Little Boy), a plastered wall with black streaks. Excess 137Cs and anomalous 235U/238U ratios detected in the black residues on the wall confirmed that the black streaks on the wall originated from Little Boy.