Highly read on pubs.acs.org in December

A relatively reassuring study about radioactive particles released into the ocean as a result of the accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last March has proved popular reading.

Ken Buesseler at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and his colleagues gathered data on caesium and iodine isotopes collected after the accident by the Tokyo Electric Power Company and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and compared these with pre-accident measurements for the same isotopes. Radionuclide levels peaked one month after the accident, owing partly to releases of cooling sea water used to manage the accident.

Ultimately, the team predicts “minimal impact on marine biota or humans”, but suggests that more study is warranted, especially on potential radionuclide accumulation in seafood.

Environ. Sci. Technol. 45, 9931–9935 (2011)