Date & Time:	Mon. January 24, 2022, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Speaker：	Associate Professor, Ismail RAHMAN Project Professor Alexei KONOPLEV (Presentation order)
Title：	Management of the contaminated land area with bioenergy crops (RAHMAN) Vertical distribution of 137Cs in bottom sediments provides insight into time changes of water contamination: Chernobyl and Fukushima (KONOPLEV) (Presentation order)

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar, in which the faculty members report on their research results to facilitate their research activities and communication. The 9th IER Seminar of FY2021 was held on January 24, and Associate Professor Ismail RAHMAN and Project Professor Alexei KONOPLEV gave presentations on their research activities. The seminar was attended by 21 researchers and graduate students, including online attendees.

Associate Professor, Ismail RAHMAN, gave a presentation about “Management of the contaminated land area with bioenergy crops.” His research aims to immobilize contaminants in the soil to prevent erosion, runoff, and spread by wind. Management of radionuclide-contaminated land area has been a critical issue in Fukushima after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. A bioenergy crop, Erianthus arundinaceus, has been evaluated for its efficiency in stabilizing radiocesium in soil. Radiocesium is transferred from soil to roots of the Erianthus plants and can then be transferred to the above-ground plants. However, the translocation of radiocesium from roots to aerial parts of Erianthus is very low, indicating the biomass is less contaminated and can be used as a source of bioenergy production. Some preliminary experimental data on the tolerance capability of wild grass plant species towards anthropogenic input of excess radiocesium in soil have also been reported. However, since that study was conducted in garden soil, future studies will need to investigate the effects in farmland soil.

Project Professor, Alexei KONOPLEV gave a talk “Vertical distribution of 137Cs in bottom sediments provides insight into time changes of water contamination: Chernobyl and Fukushima”. Bottom sediments of lakes and dam reservoirs can provide an insight in understanding the dynamics of 137Cs strongly bound to sediment particles. On this premise, a number of cores of bottom sediments were collected in deep parts of lakes Glubokoe, Azbuchin and Cooling Pond in close vicinity of the Chernobyl NPP in Ukraine, in Schekino reservoir (Upa River) in Tula region of Russia (2018) and in Ogaki reservoir (Ukedo River) in Fukushima contaminated area (2019). Layers of bottom sediments can be attributed to certain time of suspended particles sedimentation. With 137Cs activity concentration in a given layer of bottom sediments corresponding to 137Cs concentration on suspended matter at that point in time, we were able to reconstruct the post-accidental dynamics of particulate 137Cs activity concentrations. Using experimental values of the distribution coefficient Kd, changes in the dissolved 137Cs activity concentrations were estimated. The estimates of particulate and dissolved 137Cs concentrations are in reasonable agreement with monitoring data and predictions using the semi-empirical “diffusional” model.

After the presentations, various questions and opinions were exchanged with each presenter.

Date & Time:

Thursday. February 17, 2022, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Topics：

1) Study about the process for serious struggles at their own reconstruction for small and medium-sized enterprises by Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident. (SHOJI Nobutoshi: 1st year M.S. student, Major in Environmental Radioactivity) 2) Measurement of radiation distribution by a Compton Camera at the Hamadori area. (KAWAHARA Rika: 1st year M.S. student, Major in Environmental Radioactivity) 3) Monte Carlo Simulation of Nal Detector for Airborne Monitoring Survey (Sam KOH Boon Kiat: 1st year M.S. student, Major in Environmental Radioactivity) 4) Application of Extraction Chromatographic Resin for 236U and Other Uranium Isotopes Measurement in Environmental Samples (Md. Ferdous Alam: 3rd PhD student, Major in Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology)

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar, in which the faculty members report on their research results, with the purpose of facilitating their research activities and communication.

The 10th IER seminar was held on February 17, with 22 attendees. One PhD and three M.S. students from Fukushima University Graduate School of Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology, who are conducting research activities under the supervision of the IER faculty members, made presentations in English on the progress of their respective research.

During the Q & A session, the students received many comments and advice from their supervisors as well as from researchers in different research fields.

The article was published in JST(Japan Science and Technology Agency) News February 2022 (JST PR magazine).
This is a special feature about "The SATREPS Project for Strengthening of the Environmental Radiation Control and Legislative Basis for the Environmental Remediation of Radioactively Contaminated Sites" adopted by SATREPS(Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development).
The article is written in Japanese only.

Link to the website of JST News the February, 2022 number（External Sites）

To the website of SATREPS

Date：	December 27th, 2021, 2:00 to 3:00 pm
Speakers ：	Associate Professor, Toshihiro WADA Professor, Vasyl YOSCHENKO (Presentation order)
Title ：	Large variation of 137Cs radioactivity and water-to-body concentration ratios of fish in Maeda River and an adjacent pond near the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant（WADA） The long-term trends in Radiocesium Dynamics in Fukushima Forests.（YOSCHENKO）

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar, in which the faculty members report on their research results, with the purpose of facilitating their research activities and communication.

At the 8th IER Seminar of FY2021 held on December 27, gave presentations on their research activities. The seminar was attended by 19 researchers and graduate students, including online attendees.

Associate Professor WADA presented the results of measuring the concentration of radiocesium in fish as well as in river and pond water (environmental water), collected from the Maeda River (five sampling sites from upstream to downstream areas) and an adjacent pond around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), showing a large variation in the concentration ratio of Japanese dace to environmental water. In contrast, the variability of the concentration ratios of pond fish was smaller than those found in river fish including Japanese dace. Comparing the effects of the Chernobyl accident and the FDNPP accident, it was found that the cesium-137 accumulation mechanisms observed in fish in lakes and ponds were similar, but in rivers, the cesium-137 accumulation mechanisms specific to Fukushima strongly affected the contamination levels of river fish.

Professor YOSCHENKO presented his research results on the long-term trends in Radiocesium Dynamics in Fukushima Forests since 2014, when he started his research. The amount of radiocesium has decreased significantly in the litter layer of the forest soil, but up to 80% of it is still localized in the 5 cm topsoil layer. The downward migration of radiocesium is slow, but the dynamics of its bioavailable forms in the root-inhabited soil layer should be noted. He also discussed the difference in the dynamics trends of radiocesium in the biomass compartments. In particular, in contrast to other tree species, Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress accumulate radiocesium in heartwood. Also, the dynamics trends may differ between the trees of the same species growing at different sites. The mechanisms that determine such differences and the site-specific parameters that determine the magnitude of the radiocesium root uptake into the biomass compartments need to be clarified.

After the presentations, various questions and opinions were exchanged with each presenter.

Asking question

Date & Time ：	Monday, December 20, 2021, 2:40 pm ‒ 4:10 pm JST
Venue ：	Online (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer ：	Dr. Anna Romanchuk, Radiochemistry Division at Chemistry Department of Lomonosov Moscow State University
Lecture Title ：	Processes to be considered in modelling of radionuclides migration

In some of the classes of the Master’s Program of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, distinguished external researchers are invited as guest lecturers, and their classes are open to other faculty members on campus as “Special Seminars”.

On December 20, the lecture on the subject “Environmental Radioactivity Studies II” by Prof. Anna Romanchuk was attended by three IER graduate school master students, one Ph.D. student and several IER scientists. Prof. Romanchuk talked about physico-chemical processes of actinide’s fate and transport in the environment such as sorption-desorption, complexation, reduction-oxidation, dissolution-precipitation. Since actinides may occur in the environment in multiple oxidation states with different solubility and migration ability, accurate modelling of their behavior in the environment is not easy. Processes of actinide hydrolysis; complexation with halides, carbonates, and natural organic matter have been considered in detail. Approaches to describe and model actinide’s solid-liquid distribution in the environment was considered. Special attention was devoted to the behavior of Pu isotopes in the environment. Several case studies of actinide behavior in the environment and its modelling were presented - such as Rocky Flats Plant contaminated site (USA) and its remediation, Nevada nuclear weapon test site (USA), PA Mayak reprocessing plant (Russia), Sellafield reprocessing plant (UK), Chernobyl NPP contaminated areas and specifically “red forest” (Ukraine). The lecture was followed by questions of students and researchers and fruitful discussions.

IER held the 16th dialogue meeting at Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecure.
IER has been holding these meetings since 2016, in order to feedback our research results to local communities.

Click here for details.

Date ：	November 29th, 2021
Speakers ：	Project Professor, Tatsuo TORII Project Assistant Professor, Hiroko ISHINIWA Project Researcher, Tsutomu KANASASHI
Title ：	Relationships of 137Cs between riparian forests and headwater streams: Leaflitter and aquatic insects in streams (KANASASHI) Oxidative stress on male reproductive organ of wild mice living in Fukushima evacuation zone(ISHINIWA) R & D of two radiation detectors based on new concepts(TORII)

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar, in which the faculty members report on their research results, with the purpose of facilitating their research activities and communication.

At the 7th IER Seminar of FY2021 held on November 29, Project Researcher Tsutomu KANASASHI, Project Assistant Professor Hiroko ISHINIWA, and Project Professor Tatsuo TORII gave presentations on their research activities. The seminar was attended by 18 researchers and graduate students, including online attendees.

Project Researcher KANASASHI has been conducting study on relationships between food webs and 137Cs dynamics in the forest ecosystems in the headwater streams in Fukushima Prefecture. Based on the results of measurement and analysis of 137Cs concentrations in leaflitter in streams and aquatic insects that use them as a source of nutrients, he talked about whether biomagnification of radiocesium has occurred among species of aquatic insects.

Project Assistant Professor ISHINIWA presented the results of her study on oxidative stress response in reproductive tissues of large Japanese field mice (Apodemus speciosus) living in the evacuation zone of Fukushima Prefecture, comparing them with large Japanese field mice collected in the control areas to determine whether external exposure causes oxidative stress responses and in which cells.

Project Professor TORII presented the research and development of two new concept radiation detectors. He explained the concept of identifying radiation sources by using a compact and lightweight measurement system mounted on a small drone that can fly inside buildings, comparing it to conventional measurement devices. If the development of a simple-to-operate and inexpensive measuring device is successful, it is expected to be used for measuring radiation doses near the ceiling of the reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where decommissioning work is in progress. During the question and answer session, he showed samples and answered questions.

After the presentations, various questions and opinions were exchanged with each presenter.

Questions and Answers

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) and Tomioka Town, Fukushima Prefecture, have agreed to cooperate in environmental radioactivity research conducted by the IER in Tomioka Town. The signing ceremony was held at the Tomioka Town Hall with the attendance of Mayor Yamamoto, Deputy Mayor Takano, and Industrial Promotion Section Chief Sakamoto from Tomioka Town, and Director Nanba and Professor Yoschenko from the IER.

Director Nanba and Professor Yoschenko explained the background of the research being conducted in Tomioka Town and the future prospects for using the research results for the restoration of the town, and Mayor Yamamoto expressed his intention to promote cooperation with the IER in view of responding the residents’ concerns about radiation. After confirming future research activities and expected results in a lively exchange of opinions by all participants, Mayor Yamamoto and Director Nanba signed the agreement.

Based on this agreement, the IER will share with the town office the results of its ongoing research on the behavior and dynamics of radiocesium in cedar and cypress in privately owned forests in Tomioka Town since 2017 This is expected to be useful for the town's overall forest management and forestry policies and for planning research that meets the town's needs. The observation results of radiocesium concentrations in seawater at Tomioka Fishing Port and the results of fish study in the Tomioka River will also be reported to the town office, and are expected to be reflected in the town's future efforts for restoration.

Signing the agreement
(from right) Mayor Yamamoto, Director Nanba, and Professor Yoschenko

On November 11, 2021, H.E. Dr. Sergiy Korsunsky, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Japan, and Mrs. Inna Irina, Third Secretary of the Embassy visited the IER. Ambassador Korsunsky is an expert in a wide range of fields including energy, especially on geopolitical issues. Introduced by his former colleague, Dr. Zheleznyak, currently a Project Professor of the IER, he visited the IER in 2016 as ‘Ambassador at large’. This time, the Ambassador Korsunsky paid a courtesy visit to President Miura of Fukushima University and then had a discussion with SATREPS Chernobyl project members at the IER.

Ambassador Korsunsky and President Miura talked about the cooperative relationship between Ukraine and Fukushima University. The President expressed his gratitude to Ukraine for accepting a survey team from Fukushima University in 2011 and sending their experts to Fukushima, when Fukushima University had no radiation experts at the time of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Ambassador said that although the nuclear accidents both in Fukushima and Chernobyl were very tragic, the Ukrainian government has been supporting the joint research among Fukushima University and Ukrainian institutions, such as the SATREPS Chernobyl project, in the belief that appropriate efforts based on the experience of accidents would provide valuable knowledge for future countermeasures. He expressed his intention to continue the support.

The discussion expanded to the topics of arts and culture of the two countries, and President Miura introduced his own experience that he realized the great power of art in the reconstruction process when he was working on the education of children after the Great East Japan Earthquake. He shared with the Ambassador the understanding that heart-to-heart communication brought about by art leads to hope. This led to an idea of considering new academic exchanges between Ukraine and Fukushima University in the field of art and related humanistic research.

At the IER, the ambassador had a discussion with the members of SATREPS Chernobyl project currently going on in Ukraine. IER Director Nanba introduced its current status and future prospects, and the Ambassador gave an encouraging comment that the research activities of the IER and SATREPS Chernobyl project are very important initiatives not only for Ukraine and Japan but also for the whole world. He also pointed out the need to understand and analyze the global trends in energy in the era of carbon neutrality and to envision the future with these trends in mind.

All the members reaffirmed their commitment to complete the ongoing project and continue constructive efforts for the next project concept, and expressed their gratitude to the Ambassador for his sincere advice and full cooperation.

Date & time:	Fri. Nov 5, 2021, 17:00 ‒ 18:30 JST
Venue:	Online (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer:	Dr. Georg Steinhauser, Professor of University of Hannover, Institute of Radioecology and Radiation Protection,
Lecture Title:	Tracing anthropogenic radionuclides in the atmosphere

In some of the classes of the Master’s Program of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, distinguished external researchers are invited as guest lecturers, and their classes are open to other faculty members on campus as “Special Seminars”.

On November 5, the online lecture on the subject “Environmental Radioactivity Science II” by Prof. Georg Steinhauser was attended by four IER graduate school master students and several IER members. In this lecture, Prof. Steinhauser talked about global monitoring of anthropogenic radionuclides in the atmosphere as a tool for tracing the nuclear incidents in various parts of the world (such as the Chernobyl accident, which was only disclosed by the Soviets Union after an atmospheric release was discovered in Sweden), and about advances in nuclear forensics based on the example of the investigation of an undeclared release of 106Ru into the atmosphere detected by the European monitoring stations network in 2017. In the Q&A session, the lecture participants discussed the perspectives for further development of the monitoring network for detecting the local scale nuclear events, as well as the details of the two years’ comprehensive investigation of the ruthenium release.

Date & time:

Fri. October 29, 2021

Three senior students from the Faculty of Policy Studies, Chuo University, visited IER.

They are studying the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) and its effects, and are especially interested in the discharge of the ALPS treated water from FDNPP into the ocean. This time, they visited Project Associate Professor Hyoe Takata, who specializes in marine chemistry as part of their study tour.

In the meeting with Prof Takata, they asked him various questions that came to their mind during their research on treated water. Also, they expressed their frank opinions about the water discharge, such as concerns about the health hazards of tritium from fish and rain, anxiety about the discharge itself from the FDNPP where the accident occurred, and uncertainty about what criteria to use to judge safety.

While carefully answering each question, Prof. Takata said, “It is important to calculate by yourself and understand numerically how much radiation dose is estimated from one Becquerel of tritium, and how that number compares to, for example, the dose received in radiation therapy. The same number can be perceived in different ways by different people, but I am currently working on assessing the background (the amount of tritium in the ocean before the discharge) and on understanding the mechanism of material circulation in the ocean so that I can provide correct data after the discharge.”

Date & time:	Mon. October 25, 2021, 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Sperker:	Professor, Hirofumi Tsukada
Title	A new approach for understanding the state of radiocaesium in soil: Density fractionation

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar, in which the faculty members report on their research results, with the purpose of facilitating their research activities and communication.

The 6th IER Seminar of FY2021 was held on October 25, and Professor Hirofumi Tsukada gave a presentation on his research activities. The seminar was attended by 15 researchers and graduate students, including online attendees.

Prof. Tsukada’s field of research is environmental radioecology and he has been especially conducting researches on the speciation of radionuclides in soil. In the seminar, he introduced a new approach called “Density fractionation”, which is used to separate and quantify rediocaesium according to its state in soil, and talked about the results obtained using this method.

Using this method, it was found that most of the radiocaesium derived from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident was contained in the heavy fraction, which is dominated by minerals, but accumulated at higher concentrations in the middle fraction where includes relatively decomposed organic matters associated with minerals than in other fractions.

After the presentation, the participants gave Prof. Tsukada specific questions such as if the methodology can be used for forest soils.

Date & time:

Mon, October 18, 2021 14:00-15:15

Topics:

1）Activity concentration of radiocaesium in self-consumed crops collected from evacuation order cancellation zone and internal radiation doses (Mihoko Kikuchi, Second-year M.S student, Environmental Radioactivity Science Major) 2) The dynamics of 137Cs in urban pond after decontamination (Honoka Kurosawa, Second-year M.S student, Environmental Radioactivity Science Major) 3) Uptake of 137Cs from soil and irrigation water by rice plants cultivated with the pot experiment （NGUYEN Phuong Thoa, Third-year PhD student, Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology Major)

In the IER seminar held on October 18, three graduate students who will graduate this year made presentations about their research activities. Eighteen IER faculty members and students joined the seminar.

Mihoko Kikuchi has been studying the activity concentration of radiocaesium in self-consumed crops in Namie Town. In the presentation, she concluded that the raciocaesium concentration in those crops grown after decontamination was low enough to have little effect on internal radiation doses. However, she mentioned the importance of continuing the investigation for residents and those who are considering returning to the town.

Honoka Kurosawa has been studying the radiocesium in a pond located in the urban area of Koriyama City. She summarized the results of sampling investigations conducted before and after decontamination, and introduced the possible effects of inflow and outflow from the surrounding rivers on the radiocesium concentration in the water and bottom sediment of the pond.

Nguyen Thoa, an international student from Vietnam, has been studying the effect of irrigation water on the radiocaesium concentration in rice in a paddy field in Minamisoma City. In the presentation, she showed that the contribution of radiocaesium from irrigation water to brown rice is negligible level.

After each presentation, many questions and suggestions were given them from the professors. The three students seemed to be inspired and motivated for the final review of their master's theses or doctoral dissertation in February.

Date & time:	October 11-12, 2021
Venue:	CORASSE Fukushima

We held the IER international symposium “Fukushima 10 years: Forest, River, Ocean, and Food –Remaining issues for restoration-“at CORASSE Fukushima on October 11 and 12. The symposium was live-streamed online, and the total number of participants reached approximately 500.

The symposium was held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant and aimed to share what has been learned during the past decade and what issues need to be addressed in the future regarding radionuclides in the environment. Co-sponsored by Sector of Fukushima Research and Development of Japan Atomic Energy Agency, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, and Fukushima Regional Collaborative Research Center of National Institute for Environmental Studies, and supported by Fukushima Prefecture, the symposium brought together the researchers who have been studying environmental radioactivity mainly in Fukushima at the venue and online. We organized the symposium with sessions for experts (oral and poster presentations) and for the general public in the two day event.

The oral presentation for experts started with the opening speeches by the IER Director Kenji Nanba and Project Professor Mark Zheleznyak, followed by a keynote speech by Project Professor Tatsuo Torii and presentations by 11 researchers on their research results in their respective fields. The symposium for the general public on the second day featured eight researchers from the fields of forest, river, ocean, and food, as well as fish, agriculture, and restoration, as mentioned in the title of the event. They gave lectures on their research results and remaining issues, and during the general discussion, various opinions were exchanged between the speakers and participants on issues such as the ideal restoration that Fukushima should aim for.

In his closing remarks, Project Professor Alexei Konoplev, Vice Director of the IER, expressed the determination of the IER to continue the research activities to contribute to the restoration of Fukushima, thus concluding the two-day symposium.

Date & time:

Thu.October 7, 2021

Thirty-six students from Fukushima High School visited Fukushima University. Fukushima High School is designated as a “Super Science High School (SSH)” by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. They visited our university as part of the SSH program, which encourages them to better understand the university and its research activities.

In the mock lecture of the half-day program, Project assistant professor Yasunori Igarashi gave a lecture following Professor Michio Sato and Associate professor Kazuharu Bamba of the Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science.

Prof. Igarashi showed that the radiocesium concentration in Abukuma River changes with seasons, and explained the possible reasons for the changes by illustrating the chemical properties of cesium. The students seemed to be very impressed by Prof. Igrashi’s talk on the importance of basic knowledge of chemistry learned in high school in order to understand various natural phenomena.

After the lecture, the students moved to the IER’s buildings for a tour of the facility. Project assistant professor Hiroko Ishiniwa introduced the biology and molecular biology laboratories, and Associate professor Toshihiro Wada explained how to measure the radiocesium concentration using Ge detectors. With full-scale laboratories and measurement equipment in front of their eyes, the students, especially those who aspire to pursue science subjects, looked very excited and listened to the professors’ talk with great interest.

Date & time:	Mon. September 27, 2021, 2:00 pm – 3:45 pm
Speakers:	Professor NANBA Kenji, Director of the IER Associate Professor HAYASHI Kumpei (Faculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences)
Titles:	Lifting of Evacuation Order (Nanba) A Regulatory Scientific Approach to the Post-disaster Recovery Issues of Fukushima’s Marine Fisheries (Hayashi)

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar in which the faculty members report on their research results, with the purpose of facilitating their research activities and communication.

At the fourth IER Seminar for this fiscal year held on September 27, Prof. Nanba Kenji, Director of Institute for Environmental Radioactivity, and Associate Prof. Hayashi Kumpei of the Faculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences at Fukushima University gave presentations. The seminar was attended by 15 people, including the faculty members, graduate students, and online attendees.

Prof. Nanba explained the transition of the lifting of evacuation orders in the restricted areas in each municipality in Hamadori, Fukushima Prefecture, in the 10 years after the nuclear accident, introducing various data. The lifting of evacuation orders has been carried out in stages in each municipality on the condition that the following requirements are met, 1) it is certain that annual cumulative doses will become 20 mSv or lower, 2) infrastructure and living-related services necessary for daily lives have been almost restored and decontamination work has progressed, and 3) consultations have been held sufficiently among relevant local government and residents. In March 2020, the evacuation order was lifted in all areas except for the Difficult-to-Return Zones (DRZ). Some areas in the DRZ in Namie Town, Futaba Town, Okuma Town, Tomioka Town, Iitate Village, Katsurao Village, and Minamisoma City have been designated as the “Specified Reconstruction and Revitalization Base (Base)” since 2017, and decontamination and restoration works have been progressing, with plans to lift the evacuation orders in 2022 and 2023. In the DRZ in Iitate village, experimental efforts are made to recycle the removed soil generated by decontamination work. Prof. Nanba then introduced the Japanese government policy announced at the end of August 2021 that efforts will be made for off-Base areas over the 2020s to lift the evacuation orders so that former residents can return to their hometowns if they wish.

Associate Prof. Hayashi specializes in Agriculture, Forestry, and Resource Economics as well as Fishery Economics, and has been working on the reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture in various fields. In his presentation, he talked about the regulatory science approach to the recovery of fisheries. Immediately after the nuclear power plant accident, coastal fisheries (including offshore trawling) in Fukushima Prefecture were forced to be suspended due to the detection of highly contaminated samples caused by the release of contaminated water into the ocean. However, subsequent data analysis confirmed that the radiocesium concentration in marine fish decreased rapidly, and that the decrease was more noticeable depending on the fish species and habitats.

Associate Prof. Hayashi has been contributing in the recovery of the fisheries in Fukushima Prefecture through a multifaceted approach: 1) data-based approach, 2) step-by-step approach including “pilot-scale trial fishing and sales”, 3) participatory approach by organizing a multi-stakeholder council (Fukushima Prefectural Fisheries Reconstruction Committee) with the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Association at its core, 4) rule governance by clearly defining and applying the council's own rules for restarting operations, restricting, lifting the limitations for fishing areas and targets, and resumption of fishing without being influenced by the nuclear power plant situation or the social environment. He has also been working on the issues of ocean discharge of ALPS treated water and decommissioning, also using the above approach.

Many questions were raised on the criteria for the accumulated dose for the lifting of the evacuation order, and whether the storage and recycling of decontaminated waste will affect the decontamination plan for the DRZ (regarding Prof. Nanba's talk) and on differences between Japanese and foreign standards for radiocesium levels in food including marine products, and what risk is posed if fish with relatively high concentration is found in the vicinity of the nuclear power plant (regarding Associate Prof. Hayashi's talk), and lively discussions took place.

 
Associate Professor Hayashi giving a presentation on the recovery of the fisheries in Fukushima.

 
Both presentations drew a variety of questions from the participants.

Date & time:	Sat. September 4 and Sun. September 5, 2021
Venue:	Online (Zoom) and a live broadcast from Densho-kan (the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum)

On September 4 and 5, Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) held an “Environmental Radioactivity Seminar in Densho-kan (the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum)” just like last year. It was organized as part of the human resource development project of Nagasaki University adopted under the Fukushima Innovation Coast Framework. The seminar was held in collaboration with Nagasaki University, and the programs on September 5 were live-streamed for attendees of a separate event of Nagasaki University. It was attended by 24 students that are from the Major in Environmental Radioactivity of the Graduate School of Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology of Fukushima University, Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science of Fukushima University, and National Institute of Technology, Fukushima and Toyama Colleges, etc.

The seminar was originally planned to be held at Densho-kan in Futaba Town in Fukushima Prefecture, and it included a tour of the interim storage facility and areas around Futaba Station. However, in light of the current situations of COVID-19, it was changed to an online seminar.

During the two-day seminar, IER researchers made presentations on decommissioning technologies and impacts of the nuclear power plant accident on the surrounding environment, in accordance with the seminar program. A question and answer session was made after each presentation and active discussions took place among researchers and attendees. The director of Densho-kan, Dr. Noboru Takamura, who also serves as a professor of Nagasaki University and Vice Director of the IER, introduced their duties and efforts. In the virtual tour of Densho-kan, he introduced a fire engine that was destroyed by Tsunami and some signs that had been displayed in the town until the nuclear accident. In the end of the program, two master’s students of the Major in Environmental Radioactivity made presentations on their research activities and all students attended made and exchanged their comments. Through the lively interaction among speakers and attendees, we were able to share the issues to be addressed toward the decommissioning of FDNPP and restoration of the surrounding environment.

We are planning to hold a tour of coast areas of Fukushima in the near future which we hope will allow students to see and better understand the real situations.

 
A group phot of the attendees.

Date & Time:	Mon. August 30, 2021, 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Speaker：	Project Researcher, Takahiro Tatsuno
Title:	Contribution of cesium rich microparticles to Cs runoff in the watershed during rainfall event in 2021

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar in which the faculty members report on their research results, with the purpose of facilitating their research activities and communication.

The third IER Seminar of FY2021 was held on August 30, and Dr. Takahiro Tatsuno, a project researcher who plays a key role in the project of Environmental Radioactivity Research Network Center (ERAN), gave a presentation on his research activities. The seminar was attended by 17 researchers and graduate students, including online attendees.

Dr. Tatsuno’s field of expertise is soil physics and soil chemistry. In this presentation, he explained the results of his research conducted in the Takase River on how cesium rich microparticles (CsMP) containing high radiocesium activities affect the leaching of radiocesium in rivers during rainfall events. At the end of the presentation, he introduced his future research plans, including the identification of the components of CsMP and the study of the effect of glassy particles that have high Cs concentration.
After the presentation, many questions were asked and suggestions for his future research plans were made from the IER members.

 
Project Researcher Tatsuno presenting the results of his research.

Date & time:	Fri. August 6, 2021, 10:20 am - 11:50 am
Venue:	A602 IER Conference Hall, onsite and online hybrid (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer:	Dr. Yumiko Ishii, Senior Researcher, Fukushima Regional Collaborative Research Center, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)

In some lectures of the Master’s Program of the Major in Environmental Radioactivity, we invite lecturers from other institutes or organizations as guest speakers. We open the lectures to other faculty staff and members as “IER Special Seminars”.

On August 6, the lecture on the subject “Radioecology” by Dr. Yumiko Ishii from NIES was attended by three master’s students of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, as well as some faculty members of the IER. In the lecture, detailed explanations were given with photos and graphs on the research activities mainly conducted by NIES, such as, overview of monitoring of radiocesium in aquatic organisms, radiocesium transfer in freshwater food webs, analysis of radiocesium transfer coefficients to freshwater fish, and radiocesium transfer to masu salmon in the Ota River. The students learned that the radiocesium concentration in freshwater fish is affected by various factors such as feeding habits and body size, and that the contamination mechanisms of radiocesium in freshwater fish differs between lakes and rivers. Dr. Ishii also introduced feeding habits analysis of masu salmon using their stomach contents DNA and food web analysis using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, thus the students learned about the radioecological research methods using the latest analytical techniques and statistical analysis.

Date & Time:	Fri. August 6, 2021, 2:40 pm ‒ 4:10 pm JST
Venue:	Online (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer：	Dr. Vladimir Petrov, Chemistry Department of Lomonosov Moscow State University
Lecture Title:	Effects of long-term chronic exposure to radionuclides in plant populations

In some of the classes of the Master’s Program of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, distinguished external researchers are invited as guest lecturers, and their classes are open to other faculty members on campus as “Special Seminars”.

On August 6, the lecture on the subject “Nuclear Disaster Studies” by Prof. Vladimir Petrov was attended by three IER graduate school master students, and several IER, Fukushima University, Shizuoka University and Moscow State University (MSU) scientists. Prof. Petrov talked about the history of Radiochemistry Division of Chemistry Department MSU and its main approaches and results of nuclear disaster studies. Nuclear accidents in PA “Mayak” (Kyshtym) in 1957, Chernobyl NPP accident in 1986 and Tomsk accident at reprocessing plant in 1993 have been considered in detail. Major attention was devoted to sources and behavior of hot particles of different origin in the environment. Unique data on properties of Chernobyl “lava”, originally melted and then solidified nuclear fuel and approaches to their investigations have been presented. Basic analytical methods to study nuclear disaster studies of materials and samples such as autoradiography, electron microscopy, X-ray techniques, Raman scattering etc. were described. In the Q&A session, the students and other attendees asked many challenging questions and discussed the relevance of experience and knowledge gained after the nuclear disasters in former USSR to emergency response and environmental remediation strategy in Fukushima.

Date & Time:	Mon. July 19, 2021, 2:00 p.m. ‒ 2:30 p.m.
Speaker:	Project Associate Professor Hyoe Takata
Title:	Factors controlling dissolved 137Cs activity in two coastal waters, eastern and western sides of Japan

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar in which the faculty members report on their research results, with the purpose of facilitating their research activities and communication

The second IER Seminar was held on July 19 and Hyoe Takata, Project Associate Professor specializing in marine chemistry, gave a presentation. The seminar was attended by approximately 20 of researchers and graduate students, including online attendees.

Project Associate Professor Takata gave a presentation on the concentration of radiocesium in the ocean on the Pacific side and the Japan Sea side, sharing the results of surveys conducted on both coasts. In his presentation, he explained that along the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, the effect of riverine input to the ocean was large, while along the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture, the riverine effect was small and the effect of Tsushima Current was rather large.
After the presentation, there were many questions from the participants and a lively discussion took place.

Venue ： Online (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer : Dr. Yoshito Watanabe, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and technology (QST NIRS)
◆Lecture 1◆
Date & Time: Mon. June 22, 2021, 10:20 am ‒ 11:50 pm JST
Lecture Title: Biological effects of radiation in Fukushima

In some of the classes of the Master’s Program of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, distinguished external researchers are invited as guest lecturers, and their classes are open to other faculty members on campus as “Special Seminars”.

On June 22, the lecture on the subject “Effects of Radiation Exposure” by Dr. Yoshito Watanabe was attended by three IER graduate school master students, and several members of the IER and Fukushima University. Dr. Watanabe explained the basic mechanisms of radiation effects, types of radiation effects in humans, and radiosensitivity of different species. In particular, he elaborated on the dependence of radiosensitivity on chromosome volume and damage caused by continuous gamma irradiation. Further, Dr. Watanabe gave examples of radiation damages observed in plant and animal species in Chernobyl and Fukushima (Scots pine, red pine, Japanese fir, medaka fish etc.) and analyzed the dose dependencies of their chromosome aberration frequencies. The lecture participants talked about the radiation effects (deterministic or stochastic) on people, and about the doses and scenarios of acute irradiation of forests in Chernobyl zone.

◆Lecture 2◆
Date & Time: Tue. June 29, 2021, 10:20 am ‒ 11:50 pm JST
Lecture Title: Effects of Fukushima accident on plants and animals

On June 29, the lecture on the subject “Effects of Radiation Exposure” by Dr. Yoshito Watanabe was attended by four IER graduate school master students, and several members of the IER and Fukushima University. In the introduction, Dr. Watanabe presented the basic concepts of the system of radiation protection of the Environment, such as RAPs (Reference Animals and Plants) and DCRL (Derived Consideration Reference Levels). Dr. Watanabe then assessed the risk of radiation by comparing the estimated dose rates on RAPs in terrestrial and marine ecosystems in Okuma during different periods after the Fukushima accidents with DCRL. The topics widely ranged from a comprehensive review of publications revealing radiation effects on wild animals and plants observed after the Fukushima accident, the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident on wildlife, problems in interpreting differences in radiation effects in the field and laboratory, progress in research on morphogenesis in Japanese fir, and to the importance of dosimetry and radiation exposure verification experiments. The participants discussed the radiosensitivity of animal species, including the possible effect of aging and other factors.

Date & Time :	Tue. June 22, 2021, 1:00 pm ‒ 4:00 pm
Venue :	Fukushima Prefectural Fukushima High School
Speaker :	Professor Vasyl Yoschenko
Title :	Radioactivity and Forest

On June 22, Professor Vasyl Yoschenko visited Fukushima Prefectural Fukushima High School and gave a lecture to around 40 third-year students in the “Global Science” class held at the school.

The school has been designated as a Super Science High School (SSH) by the MEXT, and as part of the program, researchers from overseas are invited to give lecturers at the school.

Prof. Yoschenko began the lecture by introducing his country Ukraine and his career as a researcher in Radioecology, and then talked about his research on the theme of “Radioactivity and Forest”. The students listened attentively to the lecture, which was given entirely in English.

During the Q & A session, there were questions about Chernobyl nuclear accident, which Prof. Yoschenko was involved in the post-accident investigation. There was also a unique question: “If you had to choose one most important subject to study, what it would be?” Prof. Yoschenko encouraged the students that every scientific subject will help their future research, and Project Assistant Prof. Igarashi, who accompanied Prof. Yoschenko, advised that as a Japanese researcher, it is of utmost importance to learn Japanese properly, since Japanese is the base of all research, especially in thinking and writing. At the end, each student gave a presentation on what they learned from the lecture.

Date & Time :	Mon. June 21, 2021, 2:00 pm ‒ 3:00 pm
Speakers :	Project Assistant Professor, Yasunori Igarashi Associate Professor, Yoshifumi Wakiyama
Titles :	Dose rCs have a temperature dependency? – Theory and field observation- (Igarashi） Riverine 137Cs dynamics under high-flow conditions: progress and future direction(Wakiyama）

Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (IER) regularly holds the IER seminar in which the faculty members report on their research results, with the purpose of facilitating their research activities and communication.

The first IER Seminar in this fiscal year was held on June 21, with two researchers specialized in the field of hydrology gave presentations as speakers. 21 researchers and graduate students attended the seminar, including online attendees.

Project Assistant Professor Yasunori Igarashi talked about his research progress on the temperature dependency of the radiocesium dynamics in the river system, based on the perspectives of both theory and long-term field observation in the Abukuma River. Associate Professor Yoshifumi Wakiyama also shared his research progress and future direction in the study of riverine ¹³⁷Cs dynamics under high-flow conditions. Researchers exchanged their views in the following Q & A session and encouraging comments were given on the both studies.

Date & Time: Mon. June 7, 2021, 4:20 pm ‒ 5:50 pm JST
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer：Dr. Stanislav Geras’kin, Russian Institute of Radiology and Agroecology
Lecture Title: Effects of long-term chronic exposure to radionuclides in plant populations

On June 7, the lecture on the subject “Effects of Radiation Exposure” by Prof. Stanislav Geras’kin was attended by three IER graduate school master students, and several members of the IER and Fukushima University. Prof. Geras’kin talked about the effects of chronic radiation on plants observed in severely contaminated lands, such as the Chernobyl zone, the Semipalatinsk test site, and the evacuation area in Fukushima. The overall approach was to trace radiation-induced effects occurring at different levels of biological complexity, from molecules to ecosystems. Prof. Geras’kin presented a comprehensive set of data demonstrating the plant response to radiation exposure, including cytogenetic alterations, mutations, genetic variability in exposed plant populations, epigenetic changes, differential gene expression, as well as changes in hormone balance, enzyme activity and morphometric indices. In the Q&A session, the lecture participants discussed the potential contribution of transposable elements in response to radiation and the possible mechanisms behind the temporal patterns of chromosome aberration frequency in individual plants and in populations.

Date & Time: Tuesday, June 1, 2021, 16:15 pm ‒ 17:00 pm
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer: Dr. Maksym A. Gusyev
International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) under the auspices of UNESCO, Public Works Research Institute (PWRI)
Lecture Title: Past and future research for the improved decision- support model predictions with environmental tritium radioisotope

An IER Special Seminar was held online on June 1, inviting Dr. Maksym A. Gusyev, a researcher at the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) under the auspices of UNESCO, Public Works Research Institute (PWRI). 15 researchers and students in and outside the university attended the seminar.

Groundwater flows underground at a very slow speed. It is very important as a water resource for human activities, however, groundwater cannot be directly observed. Therefore, Dr. Gushiev Maxim and his colleagues tried to grasp the flow of groundwater using tritium as a tracer and visualize it using a model. In the seminar, he introduced his research on quantitative understanding of groundwater by visualizing the residence time of groundwater to help groundwater management in the North Island of New Zealand. A similar method was verified in Hokkaido, Japan, and it was found that the use of tritium as a tracer is important for understanding groundwater. During the question and answer session, a discussion took place between the lecturer and the attendees.

Venue: Online (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer: Dr. Thomas Johnson, Professor of Colorado State University
◆Lecture 1◆
Date & Time: Tue. May 18, 2021, 10:20 am ‒ 11:50 am JST
Lecture Title: Overview of external radiation dose measurement
◆Lecture 2◆
Date & Time: Tue. May 25, 2021, 10:20 am ‒ 11:50 am JST
Lecture Title:Biological Effects of Radiation on Animals

In some of the classes of the Master’s Program of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, distinguished external researchers are invited as guest lecturers, and their classes are open to other faculty members on campus as “Special Seminars”.

On May 18, the online lecture on the subject “Radioecology” by Prof. Thomas Johnson was attended by three IER graduate school master students and several IER members. In this lecture, Prof. Johnson presented the basic approaches used for calculations of the doses from external gamma- and beta- radiation. The lecture greatly benefited from the example calculations of the specific gamma ray constant and doses from the point, linear and planar sources of gamma-radiation, as well as it provided useful online links to dose calculation tools such as Biota DC and VARSKIN as well as the JAEA nuclear database. In the Q&A session, the lecture participants discussed the environmental factors that can impact the air dose rates, such as variations in soil moisture content etc., and compared the magnitudes and sources of the ambient dose rates in Japan and in Colorado.

On May 25, the lecture on the subject “Effects of Radiation Exposure” by Prof. Thomas Johnson was attended by three IER graduate school master students, two CSU students and several IER members. Prof. Johnson reviewed the available data on the effects of radiation on animals including those acquired in Chernobyl, and discussed the basic concepts applied in the Radiation Protection of the Environment, such as Reference Animals and Plants (RAPs) and Derived Consideration Reference Levels (DCRL) introduced by the ICRP. In the concluding part of the lecture, Prof Johnson emphasized the needs for the further improvement of the biota dosimetry and identification of ecologically-relevant endpoints. In the Q&A session, the lecture participants discussed about radiation as a possible factor of natural selection, about the decrease and recovery of populations of some animal species in Chernobyl, and about the perspectives of introduction of the tissue weighting factors for improving of the biota dosimetry.

Date & Time: Mon. May 17, 2021, 16:20 pm ‒ 17:50 pm JST
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Guest Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Nele Horemans, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK･CEN)
Lecture Title: Do epigenetic changes regulate the response of plants chronically exposed to ionizing radiation? Evidence from field and lab experiments

The IER invites distinguished external researchers as guest lecturers to teach some of the classes in the Master’s Program of Major in Environmental Radioactivity, Graduate School of Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology and offers these classes as “special seminars” to other faculty members and students at Fukushima University.

On May 17, the online lecture on the subject “Effects of Radiation Exposure” by Prof. Nele Horemans was attended by three IER graduate school master students and several IER members. Prof. Horemans explained the modern view on the role of epigenetic* mechanisms in the regulation of gene transcription and formation of the features specific to various developmental stages of the living organisms. In particular, the lecture focused on the results of the field and lab experiments aimed at revealing changes in DNA methylation and micro-RNA expression levels in plants exposed to chronic radiation. In the Q&A session after the lecture, the lecturer and audiences discussed whether the epigenetic changes can be interpreted as adaptation to radiation and what can be physical mechanism of their formation.

*Epigenetics
Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene function without alteration of the DNA sequence. Such changes can occur in different life stages of organisms, as well as in adaptation to external factors such as environment and stress.

The entrance ceremony of Fukushima University for FY2021 was held on April 5, 2021. The IER accepted a total of four new graduate students (three Master’s students and one Doctoral student) enrolled in April 2021 into the Major in Environmental Radioactivity of the Graduate School of Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology.

After the entrance ceremony, an orientation for new graduate students of the IER was held. It started with welcome remarks by the IER Director Kenji Nanba, and the new students and professors gave self-introductions one another.

In addition to the existing Master’s Program that was established at the IER in April 2019, a Doctoral Program was newly established in April 2021, with a new major name of ‘Major in Environmental Radioactivity’. The IER will make a new start with the four new students and enrolled students. We wish all the best for their future endeavors in their studies at the IER.

IER orientation for new students.
An international student joined remotely from Sudan, Africa.

New students and IER professors. Congratulations and welcome to IER!