Variation of uranium isotopic composition in soil within the JCO grounds from the 30 September 1999 criticality accident at JCO, Tokai-mura, Japan.

Following the 30 September 1999 criticality accident at JCO, 29 surface and 3 core soil samples were collected inside and outside the JCO grounds to evaluate possible contamination by 235U-enriched uranium (18.8%) being handled at the time of the accident. Uranium (234U, 235U, and 238U) and thorium (228Th, 230Th, and 232Th) isotopes were determined by alpha-spectrometry and ICP-MS after radiochemical separation. Concentrations of 238U and 234U ranged from 11.3 to 63.5 and 11.6 to 360 mBq g(-1), respectively. Higher amounts of 238U and/or 234U were found in the vicinity of the uranium conversion building. The calculated 234U/235U activity ratios ranged from a 1.0 radioactive equilibrium value to an unusually high 5.7 value. Several of the soil samples showed considerably higher 235U/238U atomic ratios (1.06-4.37%) than 0.725% for natural uranium. Based on the assumption that measured U-series nuclides in soil samples taken from the JCO grounds were almost at radioactive equilibrium up to 230Th, excess uranium could be calculated for each sample. The results suggest that the excess uranium in the soils have lower 235U/238U atomic ratios (a few %) than the 18.8% enrichment of the precipitation tank uranium.

Ogoya underground laboratory for the measurement of extremely low levels of environmental radioactivity: review of recent projects carried out at OUL.

Recent topical measurements performed in the Ogoya Underground Laboratory are briefly summarized. The paper deals mainly with the following topics: measurements of variations of airborne 222Rn, 210Pb, 210Po and 7Be with high temporal resolution; the depth profile of 137Cs in Pacific water collected in 1957; cosmic-ray-induced 22Na in surface air, rain, river and lake waters; 152Eu in granite exposed to the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima in 1945; and depleted uranium used in the Iraq War 2003.

Thermal neutron fluence from ultra low-level gamma-ray spectrometry of spoons activated during the JCO criticality accident at Tokai-mura in 1999.

During the JCO-accident in Tokai-mura in 1999, the surrounding village was irradiated by an uncontrolled neutron flux. At some locations in that village, the thermal neutron flux was determined retrospectively by measurement of the very low activity of 51Cr and 60Co in stainless-steel spoons using gamma-ray spectrometry in underground laboratories. Activities determined in the HADES underground facility are presented here, together with calibrations performed using a well-defined thermal neutron flux to directly estimate the fluence of thermal neutrons independent of most assumptions. The results show measurable 51Cr in three samples and 60Co in four samples taken from locations at distances of up to 430m from the accident location despite the elapse of 4 half-lives of 51Cr before measurement. Effects of air transport of the samples were considered and shown to be negligible.

Relationship between variations of (7)Be, (210)Pb and (212)Pb concentrations and sub-regional atmospheric transport: Simultaneous observation at distant locations.

In order to investigate the applicability of (212)Pb as a tracer for atmospheric transport in the sub-regional scale (few hundred kilometers in horizontal direction and up to approximately 1km by height), we measured the air concentrations of the short-lived radionuclide (212)Pb along with the long-lived (7)Be and (210)Pb near the ground surface. For this purpose, simultaneous observations were continued for several days at three locations: a reference point representative for standard land surface atmosphere conditions, a second location at an altitude 650 m near the reference point, and on a solitary island approximately 180 km from the reference point. Measurements of radioactivity in aerosol particle samples collected at intervals of 2-3h with a high-volume air sampler were performed by extremely low background gamma-ray spectrometry with the use of Ge detectors located at the Ogoya Underground Laboratory. Concentration of (7)Be or (210)Pb and their variation patterns was found to be similar among the three points during the whole observation period except for moment of the passage of a cold front. The results indicate that distributions of concentrations of the long-lived nuclides were uniform in this range. On the other hand, concentration levels and the variation patterns of the short-lived (212)Pb differed greatly from one location to another, reflecting differences in geographical location and altitude of the observation points. Additionally, there were certain indications that observed concentration of (212)Pb contained two components: an autogenous component from sources nearby and a heterogenous one from faraway sources carried by atmospheric horizontal transport. Results of this study provide experimental proof that (212)Pb can be used as a tracer of sub-regional atmospheric transport.