The transfer of fallout plutonium from paddy soil to rice: A field study in Japan

Publication date: January 2019

Source: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Volume 196

Author(s): Youyi Ni, Zhongtang Wang, Jian Zheng, Keiko Tagami, Qiuju Guo, Shigeo Uchida, Hirofumi Tsukada

Abstract

Reported transfer factor (TF) values of Pu from paddy soil to rice are rather scarce, despite the radiotoxicity of Pu and the irreplaceable role of rice in Asian peoples' diets. Here, we conducted a field study to investigate the transfer of global fallout Pu from paddy soil to rice grain (hulled rice) in Japan. The ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu atomic ratios in two rice grain samples out of 16 samples were determined and the ratios corresponded well with the global fallout value. The soil-to-rice TF_Pu in 12 Japanese prefectures ranged from 4.5 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.2 × 10⁻⁴ with a geometric mean of 3.3 × 10⁻⁵. The TFs of rice obtained in this study were compatible to the TFs for the broad heading "cereals" compiled in the IAEA Technical Report Series No. 472. Weak correlations were found between the TF and the investigated soil characteristics such as soil pH and loss on ignition. Regarding the TFs for cerium (Ce) and thorium (Th) which are commonly considered as Pu analogues, we observed no significant correlations between the log(TF_Pu) and log(TF_Ce) or log(TF_Pu) and log(TF_Th). On the other hand, interestingly, a significantly positive correlation (r = 0.795, p < 0.001) was observed between log(TF_Pu) and log(TF_U). In view of the observed similarity of TF values for U and Pu from soil to rice, we thought that using the easy-to-measure TF_U to estimate TF_Pu from soil to rice might be suggested although the mechanism was unclear.

Graphical abstract

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