Publication Date:
2011-08-12
Description:
Vertical atmospheric DC electric field at ground level, or potential gradient (PG), suddenly dropped by one order of magnitude at Kakioka, 150 km southwest from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FNPP) right after the plant released a massive amount of radioactive material southward on 14 March, 2011. The PG stayed at this level for days with very small daily variations. Such a long-lasting near-steady low PG has never been observed at Kakioka. The sudden drop of PG with one-hour time scale is similar to those associated with rain-induced radioactive fallout after nuclear tests and the Chernobyl disaster. A comparison with the PG data with the radiation dose rate data at different places revealed that arrival of the radioactive dust by low-altitude wind caused the PG drop without rain. Furthermore, the PG might have reflected a minor release several hours before this release at the distance of 150 km. It is recommended that all nuclear power plant to have a network of PG observation surrounding the plant.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Permalink