Lessons learnt on the impact of an unprecedented soil decontamination program in Fukushima on contaminant fluxes

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Vandromme, Rosalie | Hayashi, Seiji | Grangeon, Thomas | Tsuji, Hideki | Evrard, Olivier | Landemaine, Valentin | Laceby, John Patrick | Wakiyama, Yoshifumi | Cerdan, Olivier

Edité par CCSD ; National Academy of Sciences -

International audience. Significance We used a combined experimental-modeling approach to study soil erosion, sediment, and Cesium-137 ($^{137}$ Cs) transfers in a representative catchment contaminated by the radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. This study disentangled and evaluated the processes of $^{137}$Cs transfers in a landscape that was included in the early decontamination program performed by the Japanese authorities following the accident. The model demonstrates that the decontamination program was effective in the treated areas, though 67% of the initial radiocesium remains in forested landscapes. The persistence of $^{137}$Cs in forests remains an obstacle to the return of the local inhabitants and the resumption of economic activities associated with forest exploitation.

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