{"id":1286,"date":"2019-02-18T13:32:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T17:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/website.whoi.edu\/cafethorium\/?page_id=1286"},"modified":"2023-06-12T12:29:42","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T16:29:42","slug":"fukushima","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/website.whoi.edu\/cafethorium\/projects\/fukushima\/","title":{"rendered":"Fukushima Contaminants"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Fukushima Contaminants<\/h1>\r\n

On March 11, 2011 a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a 15 m (45 ft) tsunami inundating the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP). This caused a loss of power, explosions and\u00a0 multiple reactor meltdowns followed by the release of radioactive materials to the atmosphere. Over 80% of this fallout occurred over the ocean, with highest volumes close to the plant. There was also a discharge of contaminated cooling water into the ocean, making this FDNPP disaster the largest accidental input of radionuclides to the ocean. Since then, our lab has been working to understand the fate of these radionuclides in the ocean. To date we have participated in 8 research cruises off Japan (as of 2020) as well as numerous other samples taken all over the Pacific Ocean and western coast of the United States on various cruises, by citizen scientists<\/p>\r\n

First Research Cruise KOK 2011<\/h3>\r\n
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Justin Smith gives the instruments on the rosette sampler a thorough inspection. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)<\/p><\/div>\r\n

The need to understand the amount, type, and fate of radioactive materials released prompted a group of scientists from the U.S., Japan, and Europe to organize the FIRST multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research cruise<\/a> in the northwestern Pacific following Fukushima funded by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.<\/p>\r\n

Read more about the science and life aboard on the KOK 2011 Fate of Radionuclides Cruise<\/a>. The essential components of the program include: radionuclide measurements of water and particles; a radioecological study of biota, especially species at the base of the food chain and key fish species and a physical oceanographic study to characterize transport and water masses. Three hundred sampling events took place at thirty major stations for a total of more than 1500 samples.<\/p>\r\n

Data<\/a> and subsequent research following this cruise was approved for a special issue of Biogeosciences “Impacts of the Fukushima nuclear power plant discharges on the ocean<\/a>.” These publications are included below under “Research Papers.”<\/p>\r\n