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Marco kalLofen, nuclear Sclence and Lnglneerlng

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lnLroducuon: 1he 2011 earLhquake and resulung Lsunaml ln norLheasLern !apan led Lo damages
Lo four of Lhe slx nuclear power unlLs aL Lhe lukushlma ual-lchl SLauon. 8adlologlcal maLerlals
escaped from Lhe reacLor unlLs aL Lhe power planL slLe vla alr-borne plumes of conLamlnaLed
gases, aerosols and parucles, and by conLamlnaLed wasLewaLers.

Alrborne dusLs can LransporL radloacuve maLerlals as lsolaLed lndlvldual parucles conLalnlng hlgh
concenLrauons of radlolsoLopes. Alpha and beLa emlsslons relaLed Lo sslon wasLes and
dlspersed fuel parucles are hazardous when lnhaled or lngesLed. 8adloacuvely-conLamlnaLed
envlronmenLal dusLs can accumulaLe ln lndoor spaces, poLenually causlng slgnlcanL radlauon
exposures Lo humans vla lnhalauon, dermal conLacL, and lngesuon. 1hese heLerogeneously
dlsLrlbuLed hoL parucles can be dlmculL Lo deLecL and measure, maklng lL llkewlse dlmculL Lo
deLermlne radlauon dose Lo resldenLs of conLamlnaLed areas.



MeLhods: uusL samples conLamlnaLed wlLh lukushlma-relaLed sslon producLs were
ldenued uslng gamma specLromeLry. A seL of hlgh acuvlLy hoL parucles were lsolaLed from Lhe house dusLs by auLoradlography and physlcal
separauon of ldenued hoL spoLs on alr lLer medla. Aer lsolauon, hoL parucles were analyzed vla scannlng elecLron mlcroscopy/energy-
dlsperslve x-ray analysls. (SLM/LuS).

8esulLs: 1he medlan LoLal acuvlLy of elghLy four !apanese bulk house dusL samples sLudled was 2.3 k8q kg
-1
. 1he mean LoLal acuvlLy was 71.6
k8q kg
-1
wlLh ! = 339 k8q kg
-1
. MosL of Lhe acuvlLy deLecLed was due Lo
134
Cs,
137
Cs,
60
Co and
226
8a. ShorL-llved
131
l decayed away aer gamma
specLral measuremenLs were made, buL before hoL parucle analyses were compleLed. Ceslum lsoLopes were ln concenLrauon rauos denluve
for lukushlma dlscharges.

1he large dlerence beLween Lhe mean and medlan resulLed from Lhe conLrlbuuons of Lwo samples wlLh acuvlues above 1.0 M8q kg
-1
and a
mlcron-scaled parucle wlLh acuvlLy greaLer Lhan 1.0 8q kg
-1
. 1he parucle was collecLed from a home ln nagoya, !apan. nagoya ls 460 km
from Lhe accldenL slLe. 1he parucle's acuvlLy was 310 8q as measured by gamma specLromeLry. lLs beLa acuvlLy was 283 8q. lL conLalned boLh
sslon producLs and decay producLs of
238
u aL percenL levels. x-ray mlcroanalysls of Lhls parucle mapped varylng concenLrauons of Lellurlum
up Lo 48.0 , ceslum up Lo 13.6 , rubldlum up Lo 1.22 , polonlum up Lo 1.19 , dysproslum up Lo 0.18 , as well as Lrace amounLs of un,
lead, nlckel, lron, and chromlum. 1he very hoL parucle has a calculaLed volume of no more Lhan 0.0012 mm
3
. 8ased on lLs composluon as
measured by SLM/LuS, lLs denslLy ls abouL 3.6 g cm
-3
.
nal gamma and LuS specLromeLry of hoL parucles found
226
8a,
134
Cs, and
137
Cs,
241
Am, and
230
1h as Lhe mosL commonly deLecLed gamma phoLon-emlmng lsoLopes. AuLoradlographlc,
gamma specLral and SLM/LuS resulLs demonsLraLed LhaL quallLauvely slmllar parucles were
presenL ln abouL 23 of dusLs sampled. 1hls quarule of Lhe samples was conLamlnaLed wlLh
134Cs, an lndlcaLor conLamlnanL for Lhe reacLor accldenL, and was auLoradlographlcally
posluve for hoL parucles. SLM analysls showed LhaL Lhe ma[orlLy of Lhese hoL parucles were 10
um or less ln slze, meanlng LhaL Lhey were poLenually lnhalable.

Concluslon: 8adloacuvely-hoL parucles on Lhe resplrable slze range were rouunely deLecLed,
wlLh one as far as 460 km from Lhe release slLe.

1okyo vehlcle alr lLer (L) auLoradlograph (8)
PoL parucles from falled fuel pelleL on
a 1 cm grld. 8ef. n8C nu8LC 2121
8esearch supporL from: SafecasL.[p, u.C. Medlch, h.u., C.P.., Mlcrovlslon Labs., and Mr. !un Chnlshl of namle, !apan.
resenLed aL WorcesLer olyLechnlc lnsuuLue 3/19/14. lnvlLed for presenLauon aL Lhe 2014 APA meeung ln new Crleans, LA.