Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter
The primary environmental concern related to nuclear power is the production of radioactive waste hazardous to humans and the environment. The main scientific and technological problems to address this are related to the storage and disposal of the nuclear waste and monitoring the dispersion of radi...
Published in: | Journal of Hazardous Materials |
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Language: | English |
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2023
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1548501 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131317 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438942300599X |
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ftuniperugiairis:oai:research.unipg.it:11391/1548501 2024-04-14T08:06:43+00:00 Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter Cappelletti, David Ežerinskis, Žilvinas Šapolaitė, Justina Bučinskas, Laurynas Luks, Bartłomiej Nawrot, Adam Larose, Catherine Tuccella, Paolo Gallet, Jean Charles Crocchianti, Stefano Bruschi, Federica Moroni, Beatrice Spolaor, Andrea Cappelletti, David Ežerinskis, Žilvina Šapolaitė, Justina Bučinskas, Lauryna Luks, Bartłomiej Nawrot, Adam Larose, Catherine Tuccella, Paolo Gallet, Jean Charle Crocchianti, Stefano Bruschi, Federica Moroni, Beatrice Spolaor, Andrea 2023 STAMPA https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1548501 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131317 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438942300599X eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/37003004 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000972152400001 volume:452 firstpage:131317 journal:JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1548501 doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131317 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85151297363 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438942300599X Nuclear waste dispersion Arctic Rain-on-snow Warm and humid events info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2023 ftuniperugiairis https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131317 2024-03-21T15:43:15Z The primary environmental concern related to nuclear power is the production of radioactive waste hazardous to humans and the environment. The main scientific and technological problems to address this are related to the storage and disposal of the nuclear waste and monitoring the dispersion of radioactive species into the environment. In this work, we determined an anomalously high 14C activity, well above the modern natural background, on surface and seasonal snow sampled in early May 2019 on glaciers in the Hornsund fjord area (Svalbard). Due to the lack of local sources, the high snow concentrations of 14C suggest long-range atmospheric transport of nuclear waste particles from lower latitudes, where nuclear power plants and treatment stations are located. The analysis of the synoptic and local meteorological data allowed us to associate the long-range transport of this anomalous 14C concentration to an intrusion event of a warm and humid air mass that likely brought pollutants from Central Europe to the Arctic in late April 2019. Elemental and organic carbon, trace element concentration data, and scanning electron microscopy morphological analysis were performed on the same snow samples to better constrain the transport process that might have led to the high 14C radionuclide concentrations in Svalbard. In particular, the highest 14C values found in the snowpack (>200percent of Modern Carbon, pMC) were associated with the lowest OC/EC ratios (<4), an indication of an anthropogenic industrial source, and with the presence of spherical particles rich in iron, zirconium, and titanium which, altogether, suggest an origin related to nuclear waste reprocessing plants. This study highlights the role of long-range transport in exposing Arctic environments to human pollution. Given that the frequency and intensity of these atmospheric warming events are predicted to increase due to ongoing climate change, improving our knowledge of their possible impact to Arctic pollution is becoming urgent. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic pollution Climate change Hornsund Svalbard IRIS Università degli Studi di Perugia Arctic Svalbard Hornsund ENVELOPE(15.865,15.865,76.979,76.979) Journal of Hazardous Materials 452 131317 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
IRIS Università degli Studi di Perugia |
op_collection_id |
ftuniperugiairis |
language |
English |
topic |
Nuclear waste dispersion Arctic Rain-on-snow Warm and humid events |
spellingShingle |
Nuclear waste dispersion Arctic Rain-on-snow Warm and humid events Cappelletti, David Ežerinskis, Žilvinas Šapolaitė, Justina Bučinskas, Laurynas Luks, Bartłomiej Nawrot, Adam Larose, Catherine Tuccella, Paolo Gallet, Jean Charles Crocchianti, Stefano Bruschi, Federica Moroni, Beatrice Spolaor, Andrea Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter |
topic_facet |
Nuclear waste dispersion Arctic Rain-on-snow Warm and humid events |
description |
The primary environmental concern related to nuclear power is the production of radioactive waste hazardous to humans and the environment. The main scientific and technological problems to address this are related to the storage and disposal of the nuclear waste and monitoring the dispersion of radioactive species into the environment. In this work, we determined an anomalously high 14C activity, well above the modern natural background, on surface and seasonal snow sampled in early May 2019 on glaciers in the Hornsund fjord area (Svalbard). Due to the lack of local sources, the high snow concentrations of 14C suggest long-range atmospheric transport of nuclear waste particles from lower latitudes, where nuclear power plants and treatment stations are located. The analysis of the synoptic and local meteorological data allowed us to associate the long-range transport of this anomalous 14C concentration to an intrusion event of a warm and humid air mass that likely brought pollutants from Central Europe to the Arctic in late April 2019. Elemental and organic carbon, trace element concentration data, and scanning electron microscopy morphological analysis were performed on the same snow samples to better constrain the transport process that might have led to the high 14C radionuclide concentrations in Svalbard. In particular, the highest 14C values found in the snowpack (>200percent of Modern Carbon, pMC) were associated with the lowest OC/EC ratios (<4), an indication of an anthropogenic industrial source, and with the presence of spherical particles rich in iron, zirconium, and titanium which, altogether, suggest an origin related to nuclear waste reprocessing plants. This study highlights the role of long-range transport in exposing Arctic environments to human pollution. Given that the frequency and intensity of these atmospheric warming events are predicted to increase due to ongoing climate change, improving our knowledge of their possible impact to Arctic pollution is becoming urgent. |
author2 |
Cappelletti, David Ežerinskis, Žilvina Šapolaitė, Justina Bučinskas, Lauryna Luks, Bartłomiej Nawrot, Adam Larose, Catherine Tuccella, Paolo Gallet, Jean Charle Crocchianti, Stefano Bruschi, Federica Moroni, Beatrice Spolaor, Andrea |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cappelletti, David Ežerinskis, Žilvinas Šapolaitė, Justina Bučinskas, Laurynas Luks, Bartłomiej Nawrot, Adam Larose, Catherine Tuccella, Paolo Gallet, Jean Charles Crocchianti, Stefano Bruschi, Federica Moroni, Beatrice Spolaor, Andrea |
author_facet |
Cappelletti, David Ežerinskis, Žilvinas Šapolaitė, Justina Bučinskas, Laurynas Luks, Bartłomiej Nawrot, Adam Larose, Catherine Tuccella, Paolo Gallet, Jean Charles Crocchianti, Stefano Bruschi, Federica Moroni, Beatrice Spolaor, Andrea |
author_sort |
Cappelletti, David |
title |
Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter |
title_short |
Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter |
title_full |
Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter |
title_fullStr |
Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter |
title_sort |
long-range transport and deposition on the arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1548501 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131317 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438942300599X |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(15.865,15.865,76.979,76.979) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Hornsund |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Hornsund |
genre |
Arctic Arctic pollution Climate change Hornsund Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic pollution Climate change Hornsund Svalbard |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/37003004 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000972152400001 volume:452 firstpage:131317 journal:JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1548501 doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131317 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85151297363 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438942300599X |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131317 |
container_title |
Journal of Hazardous Materials |
container_volume |
452 |
container_start_page |
131317 |
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1796303855119499264 |