Reassessment of the radiocesium resuspension flux from contaminated ground surfaces in eastern Japan.

Resuspension of 137 Cs from the contaminated ground surface to the atmosphere is essential for understanding the environmental behaviors of 137 Cs and estimating external and inhalation exposure of residents. Kajino et al. (2016) assessed the 137 Cs resuspension flux from bare soil and forest ecosystems in eastern Japan in 2013 using a numerical simulation constrained by surface air concentration measurements. However, the simulation was found to underestimate the observed deposition amounts by 2 orders of magnitude. The reason for this underestimation is that the simulation assumed that resuspended 137 Cs is carried by submicron aerosols, which have low deposition rates. Based on the observational indications that soil dust and bioaerosols are the major carriers of resuspended 137 Cs, a new simulation is performed with higher deposition rates constrained by both surface concentrations and deposition amounts. In the new estimation, the total areal annual resuspension of 137 Cs in 2013 is 25.7 TBq, which is equivalent to 0.96 % of the initial deposition (2.68 PBq). Due to the rapid deposition rates, the annual redeposition amount is also large at 10.6 TBq, approximately 40 % of the resuspended 137 Cs. The resuspension rate through the atmosphere (0.96 % yr -1) seems slow, but it (2.6 × 10 -5 d -1) may not be negligibly small compared to the actual decreasing trend of the ambient gamma dose rate obtained in Fukushima Prefecture after the radioactive decay of 137 Cs plus 134 Cs in 2013 is subtracted (1.0–7.9 × 10 -4 d -1): resuspension can account for 1 %–10 % of the decreasing rate due to decontamination and natural decay through land surface processes. The current simulation underestimated the 137 Cs deposition in Fukushima city in winter by more than an order of magnitude, indicating the presence of additional resuspension sources. The site of Fukushima city is surrounded by major roads. Heavy traffic on wet and muddy roads after snow removal operations could generate superlarge (approximately 100 µ m in diameter) road dust or road salt particles, which are not included in the model but might contribute to the observed 137 Cs at the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]