Fukushima-derived fission nuclides monitored around Taiwan: Free tropospheric versus boundary layer transport

The 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan was the worst nuclear disaster following the 1986 Chernobyl accident. Fission products (nuclides) released from the Fukushima plant site since March 12, 2011 had been detected around the northern hemisphere in about two weeks and also in the southern hemisphere about one month later. We report here detailed time series of radioiodine and radiocesium isotopes monitored in a regional network around Taiwan, including one high-mountain and three ground-level sites. Our results show several pulses of emission from a sequence of accidents in the Fukushima facility, with the more volatile I-131 released preferentially over Cs-134 and Cs-137 at the beginning. In the middle of the time series, there was a pronounced peak of radiocesium observed in northern Taiwan, with activity concentrations of Cs-134 and Cs-137 far exceeding that of I-131 during that episode. From the first arrival time of these fission nuclides and their spatial and temporal variations at our sampling sites and elsewhere, we suggest that Fukushima-derived radioactive nuclides were transported to Taiwan and its vicinity via two pathways at different altitudes. One was transported in the free troposphere by the prevailing westerly winds around the globe; the other was transported in the planetary boundary layer by the northeast monsoon wind directly toward Taiwan. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.