Yasuyuki Taira, et al., report that to evaluate the environmental contamination and radiation exposure dose rates due to artificial radionuclides in Kawauchi Village, Fukushima Prefecture, the restricted area within a 30-km radius from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP), the concentrations of artificial radionuclides in soil samples, tree needles, and mushrooms were analyzed by gamma spectrometry.
Nine months have passed since samples were collected on December 19 and 20, 2011, 9 months after the FNPP accident, and the prevalent dose-forming artificial radionuclides from all samples were 134Cs and 137Cs. The estimated external effective doses from soil samples were 0.42 to 7.2 µSv per h (3.7 to 63.0 mSv per y) within the 20-km radius from FNPP and 0.0011 to 0.38 µSv per h (0.010 to 3.3 mSv per y) within the 20 to 30 km radius from FNPP. The present study revealed that current levels are sufficiently decreasing in Kawauchi Village, especially in areas within the 20- to 30-km radius from FNPP.
Thus, residents may return their homes with long-term follow-up of the environmental monitoring and countermeasures such as decontamination and restrictions of the intake of foods for reducing unnecessary exposure. The case of Kawauchi Village will be the first model for the return to resident homes after the FNPP accident.
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