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Abstract: The large amount of 137Cs deposited on the forest floor because of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident represents a major potential long-term source for mobile 137Cs. To investigate 137Cs mobility in forest soils, we investigated the vertical migration of 137Cs through seepage water, using a lysimetric method. The study was conducted in a deciduous forest soil over a period spanning 2 month to 2 y after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Our observations demonstrated that the major part of 137Cs in the litter layer moved into the mineral soil within one year after the accident. On the other hand, the topsoil prevented migration of 137Cs, and only 2% of 137Cs in the leachate from litter and humus layer penetrated below a 10 cm depth. The annual migration below a 10 cm depth accounted for 0.1% of the total 137Cs inventory. Therefore, the migration of 137Cs by seepage water comprised only a very small part of the total 137Cs inventory in the mineral soil, which was undetectable from the vertical distribution of 137Cs in the soil profile. In the present and immediate future, most of the 137Cs deposited on the forest floor will probably remain in the topsoil successively, although a small but certain amount of bioavailable 137Cs exists in forest surface soil. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Water-extractable organic carbon (WEOC) in soil consists of a mobile and bioavailable portion of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool. WEOC plays an important role in dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) and transport of radionuclides in forest soils. Although considerable research has been conducted on the importance of recent litter versus older soil organic matter as WEOC sources in forest soil, a more thorough evaluation of the temporal pattern of WEOC is necessary. We investigated the seasonal variation in WEOC in a Japanese cool-temperate beech forest soil by using the carbon isotopic composition (14C and 13C) of WEOC as a tracer for the carbon sources. Our observations demonstrated that fresh leaf litter DOC significantly contributed to WEOC in May (35–52%) when the spring snowmelt occurred because of the high water flux and low temperature. In the rainy season, increases in the concentration of WEOC and the proportion of hydrophobic compounds were caused by high microbial activity under wetter conditions. From summer to autumn, the WEOC in the mineral soil horizons was also dominated by microbial release from SOC (>90%). These results indicate that the origin and dynamics of WEOC are strongly controlled by seasonal events such as the spring snowmelt and the rainy season's intense rainfall. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using a sector-field ICP-MS the vertical distributions of the 99Tc concentration and 99Tc/137Cs activity ratio were measured in the coastal waters off Aomori Prefecture, Japan, where a spent-nuclear-fuel reprocessing plant has begun test operation. The 99Tc concentrations in surface water ranged from 1.8 to 2.4 mBq/m3, no greater than the estimated background level. Relatively high 99Tc/137Cs activity ratios (10–12 × 10−4) would be caused by the inflow of the high-99Tc/137Cs water mass from the Japan Sea. There is no observable contamination from the reprocessing plant in the investigated area. The 99Tc concentration and the 99Tc/137Cs activity ratio in water column showed gradual decreases with depth. Our results implied that 99Tc behaves in a more conservative manner than 137Cs in marine environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]