Variations in Map Products Demonstrated During the FRMAC Fukushima Daiichi Response

April 24, 2012

National Radiation Emergency Preparedness Conference

Presented By Dr. Wendy J Pemberton

Senior Scientist, Consequence Management Contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy

NNSA Office of Emergency Response

DOE/NV/25946--1466

This work was done by National Security Technologies, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25946 with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Outline

• Brief summary of the Fukushima Daiichi • Discussion on map uses and production • Early phase maps • Intermediate phase maps • Late phase maps • Summary

2

Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami

3 Source: Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)

• Occurred: 14:46 March 11, 2011 • Magnitude: 9.0 • Tsunami greater than 14 m reached

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP)

Unit 3 Unit 4

DOE Timeline

Customers/Partners United States • Department of State

– American Embassy

• Department of Defense – U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ)

• White House • Nuclear Regulatory

Commission • Advisory Team for

Environment , Food, and Health (EPA, CDC/HHS, USDA)

Japan • Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) • Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) • Ministry of Defense (MOD) • Ministry of Economy, Trade and

Industry (METI) – Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency

(NISA) • Ministry of Education, Culture,

Sports, Science & Technology (MEXT)

– Nuclear Safety Technology Center (NUSTEC)

• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)

• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MLHW)

6

Brainstorm: Uses for Maps • Why would you want a map?

– Public safety – Worker protection – Situational awareness – Others?

• How long would it take to be able to make that map? – More detail = more time – Trade off between perfect products and FAST products

• What do we need to make the map? – To create a specific product, there is certain information that

must be available first • We cannot create a map reflecting flights over a certain city in Japan if

the Aerial Measuring System (AMS) team has not flown over it yet

7

Early Phase Maps • Early phase products spanned the first 7–14 days of the response

– Multiple releases continued to change the conditions • Product types:

– Multiple customers required many iterations of products • Questions were different between customers

– U.S. at White House wanted to know about overall safety using EPA guidance – U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) also needed considerations to guidelines set for dependants

using Pacific Command (PACOM) guidance – The Government of Japan (GOJ) wanted to characterize the contamination, but did not need

guidance based on U.S. limits » They used a combination of scientific guidance including the International Atomic Energy

Agency (IAEA) amongst others

• Questions asked: – Are people safe?

• Do they need to evacuate, move, shelter, take KI, etc? • Will the contamination reach the U.S.?

– Where is the contamination? • How long to make a product:

– Given the urgency of the questions, products were requested to be completed before the data was even collected

8

Early Phase Maps

9

• Situational Awareness • Gaining an

understanding of the layout of: • The disaster

area • U.S. facilities • The deployed

team

Buffer areas established by Japan authorities

Early Phase Maps

10

• Situational Awareness • Deployed team • Fukushima

Daiichi • Japan’s location

in the Pacific

Early Phase Maps

11

• Flight Products • Details from

AMS flights were in high demand

• Rapid turn-around product • Flight Path

Early Phase Maps

12

• Flight Products • Details from AMS flights

were in high demand • Product took a few hours

after landing • Complications in

analysis • Plume Phase • Guidance needs

• DOD • EPA

Breakpoints correspond to different guidance levels

Early Phase Maps

13

• First days • Maps set up

using previously designed templates

• Many aesthetic features evolved over time

• DOE HQ products specified data sets

Breakpoints correspond to different EPA guidance levels

Early Phase Maps

14

Breakpoints correspond to different EPA and DOD PACOM guidance levels

• AMS Flight Product • Focus varied based on the

customer • DOD customer on this map • Guidance was a

combination of types, given the variety of Americans in Japan during the disaster

• Map elements of note • Nautical miles • Four buffer rings (instead of

two) • Request of DOD

customer • Legend embedded in the

map • Also created individual maps

for each U.S. facility

Early Phase Maps

15

Breakpoints correspond to different US EPA and DOD PACOM guidance levels

• Monitoring Results

Product • Focus varied based on the

customer • DOD customer on this map • Guidance was a

combination of types, given the variety of Americans in Japan during the disaster

• Map elements of note • Nautical miles • Four buffer rings (instead

of two) • Request of DOD

customer • Legend embedded in the

map

Intermediate Phase Maps

• Intermediate phase products spanned the next 2–3 months of the response – Conditions had stabilized, and characterization of the contaminated area could

be performed • Product types:

– Continued to serve multiple customers with different guidance and questions • Began to develop a method for quickly producing the desired regular release products for

each customer • Questions asked:

– Are people safe? • Were the initial decisions appropriate? • Do any changes need to be made? • Can the DOD no-fly region be modified or lifted? • Is it safe for U.S. citizens traveling in Japan to ride the bullet train? • Is the food safe?

• How long to make a product: – Products were given slightly longer for creation after the initial disaster phase

ended; however, products were still requested with rapid turn-around times • Several days given instead of several hours

16

Intermediate Phase Maps

17

• Flights continued daily • Area was

further characterized by AMS data

• Decay is readily apparent in the plots

• Breakpoints established using action levels for customer

Intermediate Phase Maps

18

• Interest shifted to evaluating conditions to confirm “no change” • Both DOE HQ as well as

DOD and Embassy customers were interested in this data

• Began providing Trend plots • Combined exposure rate

readings from several monitoring stations into trend plots • Allowed customers to

see that no new “spikes” in exposure rate had occurred • Further confirmed

no new releases

Intermediate Phase Maps

19

• Multiple versions of the same product were created for various aesthetic needs • DOD product:

• Sieverts, additional buffer ring , warm zone, hot zone, sample types (air versus exposure rate) • DOE HQ product:

• Rem only, data source

DOD Product DOE HQ Product

Intermediate phase Maps

20

• Product created for travel advisories to be sent out for U.S. citizens traveling in Japan

• Determination of potential doses for riding the bullet train through the 80 km zone

Intermediate Phase Maps

21

• Product created for scientists reviewing gamma spectroscopy data • Many in-situ gamma

spectroscopy samples were collected • It was helpful for

scientists to be able to review the information graphically to determine areas of interest

• Google Earth KML files were also created

Intermediate Phase Maps

22

Unit 2

• The close of the intermediate phase is identified with the point in time when the contaminated area has been thoroughly explored • There was additional work to be executed for

long-term recovery, which includes many environmental samples that scientists in Japan continue to collect today

• This product was created by GOJ and U.S. scientists working together

• The entire 80 km zone was flown over the course of approximately 2 months • Flights were combined into a single map

product to create a graphic representation of the contamination on the ground in those regions

Late Phase Maps • Late phase products began after DOE responders returned

home in May and continue today – The area was well characterized

• Product types: – While multiple customers still existed, the focus shifted to policy

and for general scientific knowledge • Questions asked:

– What type of dose was estimated for the people within the 80 km zone of the plant?

– How far away from the site was plutonium and strontium found in the soil?

• Was this “new” or “old” material? • How long to make a product:

– The urgency was replaced with desire for high-quality products • Up to several weeks was allowed on more complicated problems

23

Late Phase Maps

24

• Request was to gain an understanding of the dose that the population in Japan may have received • Dose assessed by

total person rem as a function of distance from the NPP

• Data was a combination of U.S. and GOJ aerial flights

• Dose calculations included ground shine and inhalation of re-suspended material

• Maps were also requested to reflect the difference in dose that sheltering may have provided

Late Phase Maps

25

• Product created to indicate the locations of newly deposited strontium • Distributed with an accompanying

report to also discuss potential health impacts

• Information was obtained from publicly available soil sample data (published on the MEXT website)

• The determination of newly deposited strontium was made by noting the presence of Sr-89 in any samples because Sr-89 has a relatively short half life of 50.5 days • Any samples with only Sr-90 (and

no Sr-89) were recorded as historic deposition

Late Phase Maps

26

• Product created to indicate the locations of newly deposited plutonium • Distributed with an accompanying report

to also discuss methods of analysis and fuel melt evidence

• Information was obtained from publicly available soil sample data (published on the MEXT website)

• The origin of the plutonium was determined by observing the ratio of Pu-238/Pu-239+240 • Historic ratios are expected to be

different than the ratios from the recent disaster primarily due to the source of the materials • Nuclear power plant (0.026)

versus nuclear weapons (0.5) • The newly deposited plutonium has been

determined to exist in extremely trace quantities in samples collected up to a distance of 195 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi NPP • Detection limits of the labs that

published the data is unknown

Conclusions

27

• During the DOE response to the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident, many products were made • A wide range of customers supported with various questions and aesthetic needs:

• DOE HQ • DOD • GOJ • Many others

• Depending on the phase of the response • Questions varied:

• Early: Are people safe? • Intermediate: Do the previously made decisions need to be altered? • Late: Can we dig deeper into the science?

• Deliverable timelines varied: • Early: We need it now. • Intermediate: A few days for delivery was acceptable for higher quality. • Late: One to several weeks was allowed for evaluation of complicated questions.

• Products, as appropriate, were created to meet the needs of all customers with similar or the same underlying data set

Questions

28