Suspended Particle–Water Interactions Increase Dissolved ¹³⁷Cs Activities in the Nearshore Seawater during Typhoon Hagibis

Abstract

Distributions of ¹³⁷Cs in dissolved and particulate phases of the downstream reaches of seven rivers and adjacent nearshore and offshore waters as far as ∼60 km south of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) were studied during the high-river-flow period (June-September 2019) and during the period of October 2019 after typhoon Hagibis. Dissolved ¹³⁷Cs activities in nearshore water were higher than those in rivers and offshore waters, and this distribution was more intensified after the typhoon, indicating the desorption of ¹³⁷Cs from riverine suspended particles in addition to the ongoing release of contaminated water from the FDNPP and re-entry of radiocesium via submarine groundwater discharge. This scenario is also supported by the reduction of distribution coefficient (<i>K</i>_d) from a geometric mean value of 5.5 × 10⁵ L/kg in rivers to 9.8 × 10⁴ L/kg in nearshore water. The occupation of desorbed ¹³⁷Cs to the dissolved activity of this nuclide in nearshore water was estimated to be 0.7%-20% (median: 9.7%) during the high-river-flow period, increasing to 1.4%-66% (32.3%) after the typhoon, suggesting that the desorption during the flood period such as typhoons further contributes to the increase in dissolved ¹³⁷Cs levels in nearshore water.