Impact of radiocesium contamination in flood sediment deposited after the 2019 typhoon on decontaminated fields of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

Sediment that has deposited after the flood generated by the 2019 typhoon (referred to as Flood Sediment, FS) was collected along two rivers in eastern Fukushima Prefecture, Japan to determine the total and exchangeable radiocesium ($^{137}\mathrm{Cs}$), and acid-extractable potassium (K) contents. Then, these FS parameters were compared with those of decontaminated soils (DS) in nearby agricultural fields to discuss the potential transfer risk of $^{137}\mathrm{Cs}$ from rivers to nearby remediated soils. While FS had about four times higher total $^{137}\mathrm{Cs}$ content, it showed a three-times lower exchangeable $^{137}\mathrm{Cs}$ content than DS. Furthermore, acid-extractable K referred to as non-exchangeable K (Nex-K) content was high enough to restrict $^{137}\mathrm{Cs}$ transfer from soil to crops for both FS and DS. From these comparisons, we concluded that deposition of FS onto DS may not increase the transfer of $^{137}\mathrm{Cs}$ from soil to crops.

Keywords

• Cesium-137 ($^{137}\mathrm{Cs}$)
• Radiocesium
• Flood sediment
• Decontaminated field
• Fukushima
• Cesium-137 ($^{137}\mathrm{Cs}$)