Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Topic · Global and Planetary Change

Radioactive contamination and transfer

Radioactive contamination and transfer is a research topic within Global and Planetary Change. Science Explorer counts 28k research works in it since 1950. 14.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the environmental and health impacts of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, including the release and dispersion of radionuclides such as cesium-137 and iodine-131, contamination of soil and marine environments, uptake of radionuclides by plants, and the long-term consequences on wildlife and human health.

  • Fukushima Daiichi
  • nuclear accident
  • radionuclides
  • radioactive contamination
  • environmental impacts
  • marine radioactivity
  • radiocaesium
  • soil contamination
  • radioactive fallout
  • health effects
Research works
28k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.9k
per year above
Top-10% rate
14.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
0%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Radioactive contamination and transfer research?

By volume, Japan and the United States publish the most (468 and 430 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Japan 468 works
  2. 2 United States 430 works
  3. 3 China 406 works
  4. 4 Russia 305 works
  5. 5 India 140 works
  6. 6 France 134 works
  7. 7 South Korea 102 works
  8. 8 Germany 95 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 93 works
  10. 10 Ukraine 74 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Japan: 20.9%United States: 19.1%China: 18.1%Russia: 13.6%6 others listed: 28.4%21%largest
Japan468 · 20.9%United States430 · 19.1%China406 · 18.1%Russia305 · 13.6%6 others listed637 · 28.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Radioactive contamination and transfer research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Japan Atomic Energy Agency publishes the most Radioactive contamination and transfer research, followed by Fukushima Medical University and Fukushima University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Japan Atomic Energy AgencyJapan 45 works
  2. 2 Fukushima Medical UniversityJapan 33 works
  3. 3 Fukushima UniversityJapan 32 works
  4. 4 Bhabha Atomic Research CentreIndia 29 works
  5. 5 Los Alamos National LaboratoryUnited States 25 works
  6. 6 Oak Ridge National LaboratoryUnited States 24 works
  7. 7 The University of TokyoJapan 23 works
  8. 8 Tsinghua UniversityChina 19 works
  9. 9 Korea Atomic Energy Research InstituteSouth Korea 18 works
  10. 10 University of South ChinaChina 17 works

Where is Radioactive contamination and transfer research done?

The largest centres of Radioactive contamination and transfer research in 2022–2025 are Moscow (Russia), Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Fukushima (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Obninsk, Tōkai Mura and Fukushima.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Moscow Russia 145 works
  2. 2 Beijing China 131 works
  3. 3 Tokyo Japan 105 works
  4. 4 Fukushima Japan 76 works
  5. 5 Kyiv Ukraine 48 works
  6. 6 Tōkai Mura Japan 46 works
  7. 7 Mumbai India 44 works
  8. 8 Tsukuba Japan 42 works
  9. 9 Daejeon South Korea 39 works
  10. 10 Paris France 35 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ObninskRU · 27.5 works187×
  2. Tōkai MuraJP · 46.0 works181×
  3. FukushimaJP · 75.7 works149×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Radioactive contamination and transfer than the world average.

See Radioactive contamination and transfer on the map

Where is the best place to study Radioactive contamination and transfer?

Among universities, judged by research, Fukushima University, Fukushima Medical University and Nagasaki University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 8.7%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Fukushima University: 32, 7.6%Fukushima Medical University: 33, 6.6%Nagasaki University: 11, 10.8%Ural Federal University: 10, 9.3%National Research Nuclear University MEPhI: 12, 4.2%The University of Tokyo: 23, 11.1%University of South China: 18, 11.5%University of Tsukuba: 13, 3.6%Southwest University of Science and Technology: 8, 17.5%Hirosaki University: 12, 4.8%Nagasaki UniversityUral Federal Univers…Fukushima UniversityFukushima Medical Un…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Fukushima UniversityJapan 65.77.6%474.8×32 +162.0%
2 Fukushima Medical UniversityJapan 57.26.6%132.5×33 +81.3%
3 Nagasaki UniversityJapan 56.410.8%31.1×11 +151.7%
4 Ural Federal UniversityRussia 55.29.3%11.1×10 +591.9%
5 National Research Nuclear University MEPhIRussia 51.04.2%31.6×12 +258.3%
6 The University of TokyoJapan 47.911.1%6.2×23 +72.2%
7 University of South ChinaChina 47.211.5%22.1×18 -33.6%
8 University of TsukubaJapan 46.83.6%10.6×13 +107.2%
9 Southwest University of Science and TechnologyChina 45.517.5%11.7×8 -21.7%
10 Hirosaki UniversityJapan 42.14.8%49.4×12 +45.2%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Radioactive contamination and transfer research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 0% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Radioactive contamination and transfer.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.