Plutonium Isotope Ratios in the Yenisey and Ob Estuaries

Over the past 50 years, nuclear weapons' tests and releases from the nuclear industry have introduced anthropogenic plutonium into the environment. In the Arctic environment, the main source of plutonium is from the atmospheric weapons testing, but previous studies of plutonium in the Kara Sea...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied Radiation and Isotopes
Main Authors: Skipperud, Lindis, Oughton, D, Fifield, L Keith, Lind, O, Tims, Stephen, Brown, Judith Elizabeth, Sickel, Morten
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Pergamon-Elsevier Ltd
Subjects:
Keywords: Environmental impact
Estuaries
Nuclear industry
Radioisotopes
Atmospheric weapons testing
Isotope ratio measurements
Plutonium
plutonium 239
plutonium 240
Arctic
article
concentration (parameters)
estuary
isotope analysis
pollution
priority Accelerator mass spectrometry
Isotope ratios
Source identification
Kara Sea
Yenisey
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1885/75914
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2003.11.079
https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/75914/5/App_Rad_Isotop_60_2004_589.pdf.jpg
https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/75914/7/01_Skipperud_Plutonium_Isotope_Ratios_in_2004.pdf.jpg
Description
Summary:Over the past 50 years, nuclear weapons' tests and releases from the nuclear industry have introduced anthropogenic plutonium into the environment. In the Arctic environment, the main source of plutonium is from the atmospheric weapons testing, but previous studies of plutonium in the Kara Sea have shown that, at certain sites, other releases can give rise to enhanced local concentrations. The present paper presents results from determination of plutonium concentrations and isotope ratios in the sediment samples collected during various expeditions to the Kara Sea, the Ob and Yenisey estuaries and their river systems. The data indicated a clear influence from a low240Pu:239Pu source in surface sediments collected from the Yenisey estuary, whereas plutonium in Ob estuary sediments is dominated by global fallout. The results also show an increase in plutonium concentration (from 0.003 to 11Bq/kg) and a decrease in240Pu:239Pu isotope ratio (from 0.16 to 0.05) going upstream from the Yenisey estuary towards the nuclear installation at Krashnoyarsk.

Similar Items