Report on “Radiation Disaster Recovery Studies”
Course : Radioactivity Environmental Protection
Name : Sharifah Nabihah Binti Syed Othman

Radiation Disaster Recovery Studies
On 11 March 2011, Japan’s triple disaster that was triggered by earthquake andtsunami has led to Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) explosion. The
accident has released a huge amount of radioactive material to the surrounding due tothe overheating of reactors in FDNPP that lead to the explosion (Hasegawa 2012).
Consequently to the impact of the accident, numerous studies were conducted toprovide sufficient information in order to plan for radiation recovery in Fukushima.

One of the crucial information to understand is the severity of exposure by monitoring
the release of radioactivity to the environment and one of the most concerning
elements was radiocesium-137 with a half-life of 30.1 years, which increase the risk ofexposure to over decades. (Yasunari et al. 2011). Therefore, there has been extensive

research regarding radiocesium-137 deposition to assess the risk and determine thecontamination level in Fukushima after the accident (MEXT, 2011).

Ecoanalytic has become the fast growing development in determining anddetecting the trace amount of pollutant in the natural environment. It has become aninterdisciplinary technique, which combined the use of biological material withanalytical techniques to facilitate and providing the monitoring information requires inthe study (Gadzała et al. 2004). Biomonitoring can be defined as a process that used,plant and animal organisms or their fragments as “analytical tools” to provide acontinuous and/or real time analytical information (Namieśnik & Wardencki 2000).
Besides, due to the high diversity of living organisms, biomonitoring can offer many
possible ways to collect information.

The capability of providing broad and complete information by the plant has

increased some interest among researchers to investigate the potential of small species
from bryophyte group. Extensive research was conducted on bryophyte as monitors

and accumulators of mineralization since 1948 and the effort to utilize the potential of
bryophyte in heavy metal tolerance was started since 1987. There were various studies

conducted to highlight the potential of bryophyte for biogeochemical prospecting andpollution monitoring (Giribala & Tewari 1998).

Mosses have been frequently used as biomonitors in environmental pollution

studies, owing to their unique morphological and physiological characteristics(Zeichmeister et al., 2003). Such characteristics include a wide distribution in Japan(Suzuki, 2016), a large surface-to-plant mass ratio with absence of root system,

allowing greater interaction with the atmosphere and improved adsorption(Angelovska et al., 2014), the ability to survive a series of highly toxic substances (Yanget al., 2011) including radionuclides and pollutant accumulation throughout theirlifespan (Čučulović et al., 2016). However, the capability of a specific species in thegroup in accumulating the radioactive fallout has not yet been discovered.

Hence, our study emphasized on investigating the potential of a specific moss,

Hyophila propagulifera as biomonitoring tools in determining the contamination levelin Fukushima after the FDNPP accident, which may help to facilitate in the recovery
process after the radiation disaster.

References

1. Angelovska, S., Stafilov, T., Balabanova, B., Sajn, R. & Baceva, K. 2014. Applicability ofatomic emission and atomic absorption spectrometry for variability

assessment of trace and macro-elements content in moss species from PbZn ,mine environment. Mod. Chem. Appl. 2: 123.

2. Čučulović A. Č., Sabovljević, M., Čučulović, R. Č. & Veselinović, D. 2016. Naturalradionuclide uptake by mosses in eastern Serbia in 2008–2013. Arch. Ind. Hyg.
Toxicol. 67: 31–37.

3. Gadzała K. R., Berecka, B., Bartoszewicz, J., Buszewski, B. 2004: Some considerations
about bioindicators in environmental monitoring. Polish Journal ofEnvironmental Studies, 13 (5) : 453–462.

4. Giribala Pant and S.D. Tewari (1998) Topics In Bryology, Bryophytes asbiogeoindicators: Bryophytic association of mineral-enriched substrates inKumaon Himalaya.ISBN-81-7123-811-0, Allied publishers LTD, Pg.165

5. Hasegawa, K. 2012. The Japan Sociological Society, Facing Nuclear Risks: Lessons
from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. International Journal of JapaneseSociology. 21 (1): 84–91.

6. MEXT, 2011 MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)
Results of the 2nd Airborne Monitoring by the Ministry of Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology and the U.S. Department of Energy retrieved onNov. 2017 fromhttp://radioactivity.nsr.go.jp/en/contents/4000/3165/24/1304797_0616e.pdf

7. Namieśnik J. & Wardencki W. 2000. Application of vegetationin environmental

biomonitoring. Chem. Inż. Ekol. 7(3): 189.
8. Suzuki T. 2016. A revised new catalog of mosses of Japan. Hattoria 7: 9–223.

9. Yang, Z., Wang, Z. & Zhang, Z. 2011. Biomonitoring of testate amoebae (protozoa) as
toxic metals absorbed in aquatic bryophytes from the Hg-Tl mineralized area(China). Environ. Monit. Assess. 176: 321–329.

10. Yasunari, T. J., Stohl, A., Hayano, R. S, Burkhart, J. F., Eckhardt, S. & Yasunari, T.
2011. Cesium-137 deposition and contamination of Japanese soils due to the Fukushima
nuclear accident. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 108: 19530–19534.
11. Zechmeister, H. G., Grodzińska, K., & Szarek-Łukaszewska, G. (2003). Bryophytes.
Trace Metals and other Contaminants in the Environment, 6, 329-375.

Title of Doctoral Thesis
Spatial distribution of radiocesium contamination using a specific moss, Hyophila
propagulifera (Pottiaceae. Bryophyta) after Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
accident

Summary of Doctoral Thesis
Extensive studies were conducted on plants and soils to understand the mechanism ofradionuclides uptake from the environment after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Plant (FDNPP) accident. It is essential to measure and monitor the magnitude of radiation
contamination on the environment to effectively and efficiently plan for radiation recovery.
Bryophyte can be very precise and sensitive bio-indicators for heavy metal contaminations,while it can be a long-term monitoring tool if they are tolerant to the contamination.
Therefore, it is important to investigate and understand the natural potential of bryophyte tocontrol this radiation disruption. In my research, I studied the trend of radiocesiumaccumulation in a bryophyte, Hyophila Propagulifera Musci, as a bio-measuring tool
focusing the area of northeastern region of Fukushima Prefecture. Hyophila propagulifera
was selected because of their high availability to be found in targeted area, their ability toaccumulate the radiocesium, their tendency to grow around all seasons of year and theirability to survive in dry weather or highly polluted area. Since they are commonly found on
the surface of rock and roadside wall, we can minimize the influence of the soil factor,
which enhance the variation of radiocesium contamination. The study may help in themonitoring field and decontamination practice effort as it can provide quick estimation ofcontamination by considering its relationship between the accumulation and environmentalfactors. Such data can extensively help in determining the level of contamination of
restricted area and understand other environmental factors that involve in radiocesium
accumulation in the plant bodies.
This study will also investigate on how radiocesium contamination level detected byH. propagulifera compared to air-dose rate measured by the expert group such as researchgroup by JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency). The methodology was included comparing
and analyzing the spatial distribution between air-dose rate and radiocesium contaminationin the H. propagulifera, while considering the different environmental factors. The expected
result of this study has shown the difference in spatial distribution and identified thesignificant influence of environmental factors between two different measurement
approaches. A soil removal study (removal of soil from plant body) was conducted todetermine the accuracy of the radiocesium accumulation in the plant bodies and to ensure
the efficiency of washing procedure in producing consistent and reliable in the study. All theresults have presented the promising potential of Hyophila propagulifera, Musci as amonitoring tool to represent the contamination level in the environment.

Other theses published in academic research journals
1. Nabihah, S., Okuda, T., Yamada, T. & Endo, S. 2016. Spatial analysis of radiocesium
concentrations in Hyophila propagulifera (Pottiaceae, Bryophyta) within 50 km ofFukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Hikobia 17, No.2: 101–107.
2. Nabihah, S. and Okuda, T. 2017.The effect of soil removal on radiocesium
measurements of the moss samples from Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Hikobia 17,
No.3 : 201–205.
3. Nabihah, S. and Okuda, T. 2018. Estimation of spatial distribution pattern of air dose
rate level after Fukushima Diichi Nuclear Power Plant explosion using moss Hyophila
propagulifera, (Pottiaceae, Bryophyta). Hikobia vol.17, No.4 (2018) (accepted).