Special Lecture by Dr. Ken Buesseler, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in USA Held

31.03.2014

We invited Dr. Ken Buesseler, Director, Center for Marine & Environmental Radioactivity, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to be an instructor during his visit to Japan as the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Short-term S Invitation Fellowship Program for Research in Japan (overseas researchers who are Nobel laureates or resipients of similarly high-level international prizes with exceptionally outstanding records of research achievements and who currently occupy a leading position in their subject field) and held the special lecture at the Communication Center, Hirosaki University School of Medicine on Monday, March 18.

Approximately 50 people including students and staff of Hirosaki University and the citizens participated in his special lecture in English, that subject was “Impacts of radionuclides released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant Accident on the Ocean.”

His presentation provided an overview of studies of Fukushima radionuclides in the ocean. Radioactive cesium’s continued supply from the rivers and ongoing leakages at the nuclear power plants suggested that coastal sediments may remain contaminated for decades to come. Across the Pacific, Fukushima cesium will be detectable along the west coast of North America in late 2013 to 2014, but at levels below those considered of human health concern. Continued studies are needed to measure not just levels of cesium in the ocean, seafloor and marine biota, but to better constrain the pathways and rates by which cesium and other Fukushima isotopes are entering the ocean and their longer term transport and fate. International collaboration should be encouraged, to build public confidence and increase scientific insights as to the impacts of Fukushima on the ocean.

The following day 19 th, he had a familiar talk with the president Kei Sato, who was the first director, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, with his wife and introduced his activities, researches and the current issues off Fukushima.