CRiES

About CRiES

The accident at the TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was triggered by the massive tsunami generated by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Radionuclides from the reactor facilities were dispersed to the surrounding areas and spread with the change in weather conditions. , Professor Onda, the director of the center, and other experts from the university gathered to assess the damage caused by the radioactive materials, including the effects on crops and drinking water, and to provide a long-term forecast of environmental contamination in order to ensure the safety and livelihood of the residents. In December 2012, the Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamics (CRiED) was established after the integration and reorganization of the university organizations. Since its establishment, the center has been working to elucidate the actual situation and mechanisms of the migration, deposition, transport, and distribution of radioactive materials originating from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident on land, in the sea, and in ecosystems, and to contribute to the early containment of the effects of the nuclear power plant accident by predicting the long-term contamination situation and exposure doses.

In recognition of these activities, the Center has been recognized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as a Collaborative Research Center (network-type center) since FY2019. As a core institution of six research institutes in Japan, the center invites a wide range of domestic and international collaborations, elucidates the mechanisms of radioactive material transfer and circulation in the environment and ecosystems, disseminates the results to the world, and focuses on fostering young researchers who can play an active role internationally.
To support these activities, the Division of International Collaborative Data Analysis was established in 2020 in addition to the existing Divisions of Fundamental Research on Isotopes, Environmental Transfer of Radioactive Materials, and Prediction of Environmental Fate, to consolidate valuable environmental samples and other data on radionuclides immediately after the accident in 2011, and to manage and publish DOI.

Furthermore, in April 2023, the Centre for Research in Radiation, Isotopes, and Earth System Sciences (CRiES) was established by merging the Advanced Accelerator Section, the Section of Medicine for Radiation Effects and the Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochemistry Section, and is expected to promote new research using isotopes, such as radiation medicine, environmental change research using accelerators and device research. The centre aims to stimulate new isotope-based research, strengthen the research infrastructure and enhance safety education, such as radiation medicine, accelerator-based environmental change research and device research.

In collaboration with international research institutes, we are working with the IAEA and ALMERA on data verification by re-measurement of initial samples, quality assurance of observation data, measurement skill tests using Fukushima-origin standard samples, and examination of standard measurement methods. the research and study on the transfer of radioactive materials diffused in the environment, we have collaborated with international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (IRSN), and the University of Plymouth ( UK), and have conducted water and sediment transport monitoring and modeling using the world’s most advanced methods and technologies. We will continue to collaborate with domestic and international research institutions.

In the future, we will continue to play a central role in many research projects with domestic and international research institutes, and work on the environmental dynamics of radiation materials from the early stage of the unprecedented accident, and make further efforts in research that will lead to future reconstruction and possible emergencies.

Radiation Safety Management Division & Radioisotope Research Section

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 TEL:+81-29-853-2513

Radionuclides Environmental Transfer Section

Office:1-1-1 A-405 Tennodai TSUKUBA, IBARAKI 305-8572
 TEL:+81-29-853-4226
 FAX:+81-29-853-4226
 onda”@”geoenv.tsukuba.ac.jp
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Environmental Dynamics & Prediction Section

Office:1-1-1 Tennodai TSUKUBA, IBARAKI 305-8572
 TEL:+81-29-853-2532
 FAX:+81-29-853-2539
yosoku-jimu”@”ied.tsukuba.ac.jp
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Radioactive Environmental Dynamics / Impact Assessment Network Joint Research Center

Advanced Human Resources Development Project (ENEP) that supports nuclear emergency response and radioactive waste treatment / disposal