Evidence of 131I and 134,137Cs activities in Bordeaux, France due to the Fukushima nuclear accident

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident, low-background gamma spectrometry measurements were performed with HPGe detectors at the PRISNA platform located at the CENBG laboratory in Bordeaux, France. Different kinds of samples were collected and measured between March 26 and May 14, 2011. The first fission product observed was 131I with maximum activity values of 2.4 mBq/m3 in atmospheric dusts in air, 3.5 Bq/L in rain water, 15 Bq/kg in grass and 0.9 Bq/L in cow milk. The 134,137Cs isotopes were also detected in air and in grass at a maximum level of 0.2 mBq/m3 and 0.7 Bq/kg respectively, around one order of magnitude less than 131I activity, but they were below detection limits in the other samples. All these activity values were consistent with others measured in France by IRSN and were well below those reported in May 1986 after the Chernobyl accident.