Traces of Fukushima fallout in the environment of Northwest Germany

Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, 28334 Bremen, Germany

Abstract

Traces of short- and long-lived fallout isotopes (¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs) were found in environmental samples obtained in northwest Germany (river sediment, rainwater, grass and milk) from March to May 2011, following the radioactivity releases after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan. The found concentration values are consistent with reported concentrations in air, amount of rainfall and expected values applying simple radioecological models. The [¹³⁴Cs]/[¹³⁷Cs] ratio reported for air (about 1:1) allows for discrimination between “recent” and “old” ¹³⁷Cs. Expected ¹³⁶Cs values fell below the detection limits of the instrumentation, despite large sample masses and long counting times.