Background radioactivity in Northern Australian seafood

The accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) raised concerns about the possible impact to Australia from the release of radionuclides, including caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) and caesium-134 (¹³⁴Cs), to the ocean. Numerical ocean modelling indicates that these anthropogenic radionuclides will reach the Australian coastline around 2016 and therefore could potentially impact marine organisms. This study was conducted to determine the background activity concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs and ¹³⁴Cs in commonly consumed seafood from northern Australia. In addition, the background activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclide polonium-210 (²¹⁰Po) were also determined in order to provide a comparison with the anthropogenic radionuclides. The results were used to estimate the committed effective dose to the public from the consumption of seafood. Seafood samples, sourced from northern Australian waters, were analysed in this study to establish typical radionuclide levels in seafood prior to the arrival of any contamination from radionuclides released during the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP accident.