Characterization of U/Pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at Palomares, Spain, 1966 and Thule, Greenland, 1968
Following the USAF B-52 bomber accidents at Palomares, Spain in 1966 and at Thule, Greenland in 1968, radioactive particles containing uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) were dispersed into the environment. To improve long-term environmental impact assessments for the contaminated ecosystems, particles...
Published in: | Science of The Total Environment |
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Language: | English |
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Elsevier Science
2007
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ftdesyvdb:oai:bib-pubdb1.desy.de:82356 2023-05-15T16:27:46+02:00 Characterization of U/Pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at Palomares, Spain, 1966 and Thule, Greenland, 1968 Lind, O. C. Salbu, B. Janssens, K. Proost, K. Garcia-Leon, M. Garcia-Tenorio, R. DE 2007 https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/record/82356 https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/search?p=id:%22PHPPUBDB-3325%22 eng eng Elsevier Science info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.11.050 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/pmid:17336369 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0048-9697 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000245776400026 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1879-1026 https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/record/82356 https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/search?p=id:%22PHPPUBDB-3325%22 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess The science of the total environment 376, 305 (2007). doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.11.050 info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/333.7 Environmental Monitoring Geologic Sediments: analysis Greenland Mass Spectrometry Microscopy Electron Scanning Nuclear Warfare Plutonium: analysis Radioactive Hazard Release Soil Pollutants Radioactive: analysis Spain Spectrometry Gamma Uranium: analysis Water Pollutants Radioactive Plutonium Uranium info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2007 ftdesyvdb https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.11.050 2022-06-30T20:06:50Z Following the USAF B-52 bomber accidents at Palomares, Spain in 1966 and at Thule, Greenland in 1968, radioactive particles containing uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) were dispersed into the environment. To improve long-term environmental impact assessments for the contaminated ecosystems, particles from the two sites have been isolated and characterized with respect to properties influencing particle weathering rates. Low (239)Pu/(235)U (0.62-0.78) and (240)Pu/(239)Pu (0.055-0.061) atom ratios in individual particles from both sites obtained by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) show that the particles contain highly enriched U and weapon-grade Pu. Furthermore, results from electron microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and synchrotron radiation (SR) based micrometer-scale X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) 2D mapping demonstrated that U and Pu coexist throughout the 1-50 microm sized particles, while surface heterogeneities were observed in EDX line scans. SR-based micrometer-scale X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure Spectroscopy (micro-XANES) showed that the particles consisted of an oxide mixture of U (predominately UO(2) with the presence of U(3)O(8)) and Pu ((III)/(IV), (IV)/(V) or (III), (IV) and (V)). Neither metallic U or Pu nor uranyl or Pu(VI) could be observed. Characteristics such as elemental distributions, morphology and oxidation states are remarkably similar for the Palomares and Thule particles, reflecting that they originate from similar source and release scenarios. Thus, these particle characteristics are more dependent on the original material from which the particles are derived (source) and the formation of particles (release scenario) than the environmental conditions to which the particles have been exposed since the late 1960s. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Thule DESY Publication Database (PUBDB) Greenland Science of The Total Environment 376 1-3 294 305 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DESY Publication Database (PUBDB) |
op_collection_id |
ftdesyvdb |
language |
English |
topic |
info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/333.7 Environmental Monitoring Geologic Sediments: analysis Greenland Mass Spectrometry Microscopy Electron Scanning Nuclear Warfare Plutonium: analysis Radioactive Hazard Release Soil Pollutants Radioactive: analysis Spain Spectrometry Gamma Uranium: analysis Water Pollutants Radioactive Plutonium Uranium |
spellingShingle |
info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/333.7 Environmental Monitoring Geologic Sediments: analysis Greenland Mass Spectrometry Microscopy Electron Scanning Nuclear Warfare Plutonium: analysis Radioactive Hazard Release Soil Pollutants Radioactive: analysis Spain Spectrometry Gamma Uranium: analysis Water Pollutants Radioactive Plutonium Uranium Lind, O. C. Salbu, B. Janssens, K. Proost, K. Garcia-Leon, M. Garcia-Tenorio, R. Characterization of U/Pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at Palomares, Spain, 1966 and Thule, Greenland, 1968 |
topic_facet |
info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/333.7 Environmental Monitoring Geologic Sediments: analysis Greenland Mass Spectrometry Microscopy Electron Scanning Nuclear Warfare Plutonium: analysis Radioactive Hazard Release Soil Pollutants Radioactive: analysis Spain Spectrometry Gamma Uranium: analysis Water Pollutants Radioactive Plutonium Uranium |
description |
Following the USAF B-52 bomber accidents at Palomares, Spain in 1966 and at Thule, Greenland in 1968, radioactive particles containing uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) were dispersed into the environment. To improve long-term environmental impact assessments for the contaminated ecosystems, particles from the two sites have been isolated and characterized with respect to properties influencing particle weathering rates. Low (239)Pu/(235)U (0.62-0.78) and (240)Pu/(239)Pu (0.055-0.061) atom ratios in individual particles from both sites obtained by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) show that the particles contain highly enriched U and weapon-grade Pu. Furthermore, results from electron microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and synchrotron radiation (SR) based micrometer-scale X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) 2D mapping demonstrated that U and Pu coexist throughout the 1-50 microm sized particles, while surface heterogeneities were observed in EDX line scans. SR-based micrometer-scale X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure Spectroscopy (micro-XANES) showed that the particles consisted of an oxide mixture of U (predominately UO(2) with the presence of U(3)O(8)) and Pu ((III)/(IV), (IV)/(V) or (III), (IV) and (V)). Neither metallic U or Pu nor uranyl or Pu(VI) could be observed. Characteristics such as elemental distributions, morphology and oxidation states are remarkably similar for the Palomares and Thule particles, reflecting that they originate from similar source and release scenarios. Thus, these particle characteristics are more dependent on the original material from which the particles are derived (source) and the formation of particles (release scenario) than the environmental conditions to which the particles have been exposed since the late 1960s. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lind, O. C. Salbu, B. Janssens, K. Proost, K. Garcia-Leon, M. Garcia-Tenorio, R. |
author_facet |
Lind, O. C. Salbu, B. Janssens, K. Proost, K. Garcia-Leon, M. Garcia-Tenorio, R. |
author_sort |
Lind, O. C. |
title |
Characterization of U/Pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at Palomares, Spain, 1966 and Thule, Greenland, 1968 |
title_short |
Characterization of U/Pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at Palomares, Spain, 1966 and Thule, Greenland, 1968 |
title_full |
Characterization of U/Pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at Palomares, Spain, 1966 and Thule, Greenland, 1968 |
title_fullStr |
Characterization of U/Pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at Palomares, Spain, 1966 and Thule, Greenland, 1968 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characterization of U/Pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at Palomares, Spain, 1966 and Thule, Greenland, 1968 |
title_sort |
characterization of u/pu particles originating from the nuclear weapons accidents at palomares, spain, 1966 and thule, greenland, 1968 |
publisher |
Elsevier Science |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/record/82356 https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/search?p=id:%22PHPPUBDB-3325%22 |
op_coverage |
DE |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Thule |
genre_facet |
Greenland Thule |
op_source |
The science of the total environment 376, 305 (2007). doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.11.050 |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.11.050 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/pmid:17336369 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0048-9697 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000245776400026 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1879-1026 https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/record/82356 https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/search?p=id:%22PHPPUBDB-3325%22 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.11.050 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
376 |
container_issue |
1-3 |
container_start_page |
294 |
op_container_end_page |
305 |
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1766017293625589760 |