A dynamic model to estimate the activity concentration and whole body dose rate of marine biota as consequences of a nuclear accident

作者：Keum Dong Kwon^*; Jun In; Kim Byeong Ho; Lim Kwang Muk; Choi Yong Ho

来源：Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2015, 140: 84-94.

DOI：10.1016/j.jenvrad2014.11.006

• Marine biota
• Activity concentration
• Dose rate
• Dynamic model
• K-BIOTA-DYN-M
• Fukushima accident

This paper describes a dynamic compartment model (K-BIOTA-DYN-M) to assess the activity concentration and whole body dose rate of marine biota as a result of a nuclear accident. The model considers the transport of radioactivity between the marine biota through the food chain, and applies the first order kinetic model for the sedimentation of radionuclides from seawater onto sediment. A set of ordinary differential equations representing the model are simultaneously solved to calculate the activity concentration of the biota and the sediment, and subsequently the dose rates, given the seawater activity concentration. The model was applied, to investigate the long-term effect of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the marine biota using I-131, Cs-134, and, Cs-137 activity concentrations of seawater measured for up to about 2.5 years after the accident at two locations in the port of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) which was the most highly contaminated area.
The predicted results showed that the accumulated dose for 3 months after the accident was about 4-4.5Gy, indicating the possibility of occurrence of an acute radiation effect in the early phase after the Fukushima accident; however, the total dose rate for most organisms studied was usually below the UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation)'s bench mark level for chronic exposure except for the initial phase of the accident, suggesting a very limited radiological effect on the marine biota at the population level. The predicted Cs sediment activity by the first-order kinetic model for the sedimentation was in a good agreement with the measured activity concentration. By varying the ecological parameter values, the present model was able to predict the very scattered Cs-137 activity concentrations of fishes measured in the port of FDNPS. Conclusively, the present dynamic model can be usefully applied to estimate the activity concentration and whole body dose rate of the marine biota as the consequence of a nuclear accident.

• 出版日期2015-2