Isotope Ratios of 235U/238U and 137Cs/235U in Black Rain Streaks on Plaster Wall Caused by Fallout of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb
Radiological investigations of fallout from the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima city on 6 August 1945 are important to estimate doses for inhabitants. The authors have analyzed the concentrations of (137)Cs, (235)U, and (238)U in streaks of black rain caused by the atomic bomb using gamma-ray spectroscopy and the ICP-QMS method. The black rain streaks were deposited on a plaster wall of a house located 3.7 km west of the hypocenter that has been kept in the same condition as after the rainfall. Cesium-137 ((137)Cs) was detected from black streak samples. Concentration of (137)Cs in the black rain streaks is twice as high as fallout deposition on the ground in this area. A (235)U/(238)U atom ratio of 0.00887 was found, which is higher than the natural ratio, reflecting the fact that the atomic bomb "Little Boy" used enriched uranium as fuel. The ratio (137)Cs/(235)U was determined to be 0.0091, which is about eight times higher than the estimated ratio of 0.00113 based on the fission yield.