Research at Chernobyl and Fukushima Shows How Radioactive Materials Move in the Environment

When nuclear accidents happen, many people imagine radiation spreading everywhere and lasting forever. The reality is more complex. Radioactive materials move, change and sometimes disappear faster than people expect.

The Chernobyl accident in 1986 and the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011 released radioactive materials into the air, soil and water around those two nuclear power plants. The general term for the materials that got released is “radionuclides.”

Some decayed quickly, effectively disappearing without having done much harm. But others, mostly isotopes of iodine, cesium, strontium and plutonium, remained in the environment for many years, damaging human health and the environment. The mechanisms by which they do that damage depends on the material itself, the weather and the local environment. For example, cesium chemically behaves like sodium and potassium, which are accumulated in human tissues. Strontium chemically behaves like calcium, which is accumulated in bones.