A joint research team including Ibaraki University* has found that, using a mathematical model, radioactive cesium (137Cs) in agricultural land after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident has moved very little through leaching in the soil or absorbed by crops over a 100-year period, and has been shown to decay naturally. It was shown that the abundance of 137Cs in agricultural land decreased as a result of this, and that the concentration of XNUMXCs in crops would decrease further than the current level in the long term.
The research team conducted a study on the long-term prediction of cesium-2011 (137Cs) from soil to agricultural products after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in 137 for 100 years after the accident.We developed a mathematical model for the dynamics of radioactive materials in the ecosystem and evaluated the long-term effects of contamination on agricultural ecosystems.
This study uses 10 years of monitoring data after the accident to show that 137Cs was observed in cropland ecology under different tillage methods (no-till, rotary tillage, plowing) and cover crops (rye, hairy vetch, fallow). We developed, verified, and evaluated a mathematical model that predicts the dynamics of the system.
As a result, environmentally regenerative agriculture using no-till cultivation and cover crops resulted in a relatively large amount of 137Cs transferred at the beginning of the accident, but gradually decreased over the long term, and the amount of 137Cs transferred was almost the same as tillage cultivation. It became the amount.It was found that the main cause of 137Cs decline in agroecosystems is natural decay, with very little infiltration into deep soils or movement due to soybean harvest.
The results of this study show that adopting appropriate tillage practices can help reduce 137Cs concentrations in crops in the long term.In the future, in order to improve the accuracy of the model when predicting the dynamics of radioactive materials in agricultural ecosystems, it will be essential to consider incorporating the effects of soil characteristics and extreme weather events on the movement of 137Cs into the model. .
*Other participants include the South China Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the French Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA), Electricity France, and the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Paper information:【Science of The Total Environment】Modeling long-term transfers of radiocesium in farmland under different tillage and cover crop treatments
