Fission Products from the Damaged Fukushima Reactor Observed in Hungary.

Fission products, especially 131I, 134Cs and 137Cs, from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (NPP) were detected in many places worldwide shortly after the accident caused by natural disaster. To observe the spatial and temporal variation of these isotopes in Hungary, aerosol samples were collected at five locations from late March to early May 2011: Institute of Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (ATOMKI, Debrecen, East Hungary), Paks NPP (Paks, South-Central Hungary) as well as at the vicinity of Aggtelek (Northeast Hungary), Tapolca (West Hungary) and Bátaapáti (Southwest Hungary) settlements. In addition to the aerosol samples, dry/wet fallout samples were collected at ATOMKI, and airborne elemental iodine and organic iodide samples were collected at Paks NPP. The peak in the activity concentration of airborne 131I was observed around 30 March (1–3 mBq m−3 both in aerosol samples and gaseous iodine traps) with a slow decline afterwards. Aerosol samples of several hundred cubic metres of air showed 134Cs and 137Cs in detectable amounts along with 131I. The decay-corrected inventory of 131I fallout at ATOMKI was 2.1±0.1 Bq m−2 at maximum in the observation period. Dose-rate contribution calculations show that the radiological impact of this event at Hungarian locations was of no considerable concern.