Some of the wreckage at the Fukushima Daiichi plantFLICKR, M1K3Y
Scientists have constructed local and nation-wide maps of the radioactive particles that rained down when the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant failed after a massive earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan last March. The fallout maps, published today (November 14) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, will help direct decontamination efforts to the worst affected areas.
The temblor and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 this year damaged the Fukushima plant, releasing a large volume of radioactive particles (radionuclides). In the immediate aftermath, estimates of the contamination, and thus the impact on humans, wildlife, and agriculture, were highly uncertain. (Read The Scientist's coverage of the disaster.)
To obtain a more accurate picture of the contamination situation, Nori Kinoshita of the University of Tsukuba ...
