Plutonium and americium in sediments of Lithuanian lakes

The assessment of contribution of the global and the Chernobyl NPP (Nuclear Power Plant) accident plutonium and americium to plutonium pollution in sediments of Lithuanian lakes is presented. Theoretical evaluation of activity ratios of 238Pu/239+240Pu and 241Pu/239+240Pu in the reactor of unit 4 of the Chernobyl NPP before the accident was performed by means of the ORIGEN-ARP code from the SCALE 4.4A program package. Non-uniform distribution of radionuclides in depositions on the Lithuanian territory after nuclear weapon tests and the Chernobyl NPP accident is experimentally observed by measuring the lake sediment pollution with actinides. The activity concentration of sediments polluted with plutonium ranges from 2.0 š 0.5 Bq/kg d.w. (dry weight) in Lake Asave . lis to 14 š 2 Bq/kg d.w. in Lake Juodis. The ratio of activity concentrations of plutonium isotopes 238Pu/239+240Pu measured by á-spectrometry in the 10-cm-thick upper layer of bottom sediment varies from 0.03 in Lake Juodis to 0.3 in Lake Žuvintas. The analysis of the ratio values shows that the deposition of the Chernobyl origin plutonium is prevailing in southern and south-western regions of Lithuania. Plutonium of nuclear weapon tests origin in sediments of lakes is observed on the whole territory of Lithuania, and it is especially distinct in central Lithuania. The americium activity due to 241Pu decay after the Chernobyl NPP accident and global depositions in bottom sediments of Lithuanian lakes has been evaluated to be from 0.9 to 5.7 Bq/kg

Exposure of biota in the cooling pond of Ignalina NPP: hydrophytes

The radiological assessment of non-human biota is now accepted by a number of international bodies. In this connection the scientific basis to assess and evaluate biota internal and external radiation exposure is required. This paper presents the comparison of freshwater biota (hydrophyte species) exposure due to discharged anthropogenic radionuclides with that due to natural background radiation. The radionuclides from Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (Lithuania) are discharged into cooling pond – Druksiai Lake. Submerged hydrophytes were selected as biota exposure indicators because they represent the largest biomass in this lake and have comparatively high radionuclide activity concentrations. The detailed methodology evaluation of the submerged hydrophyte dose rate is presented. The ionizing radiation exposure dose rates to submerged hydrophyte roots and above sediment parts due to the major radionuclides (54Mn, 60Co, 137Cs, 90Sr) discharged into the INPP cooling pond – Druksiai Lake were 0.044 μGy h−1 and 0.004 μGy h−1, respectively. The internal exposure dose rate due to natural background α-emitters (210Po,238U, 226Ra) was estimated to be 1.24 μGy h−1, as compared with that of anthropogenic α-emitter 240Pu – 0.04 μGy h−1, whereas the external exposure was 0.069 μGy h−1. The presented data deeper the knowledge about the concentration of radionuclides and submerged hydrophytes' exposure dose rates in European freshwater ecosystems

Assessment of radionuclide migration and radiological human exposure at the closed near-surface radioactive waste repository

The near-surface “RADON” type radioactive waste repository, installed in 1963 and designed to store radioactive waste formed in industry, medicine and scientific investigations, was closed in 1989 because it did not meet the requirements imposed on the radioactive waste disposal. A comparatively small amount of radioactive waste is stored in this repository, but the inventory comprises various kinds of waste: short-lived low-level radioactive waste, short-lived low and intermediate radioactive waste, long-lived intermediate and high-level radioactive waste. The possible site-specific radionuclide migration through the groundwater pathway as well as the human exposure are considered by the computer program RESRAD-OFFSITE in this paper. The analysis of the obtained data shows that out of all stored radionuclides only H-3, C-14 and Cl-36 exceeding the dose constraint of 0.2 mSv can be considered as dangerous. The monitoring carried out in the repository environment has shown the contamination of groundwater with radioactive tritium and a significant reduction of contamination after construction of additional protective engineering barriers. For the assessment of the contribution of separate site-specific parameters of the model taking into account uncertainties of the model and parameters to the annual effective dose, the computer code RESRAD-OFFSITE provides the possibility of applying the regression analysis. It has been determined that the aquifer lateral dispersion as well as the hydraulic gradient, the radionuclide activity concentration in the repository together with the rate of penetration into the environment and the precipitation amount have the largest influence on the assessment accuracy of annual effective doses

Quantification of the carbonaceous matter origin in submicron marine aerosol by <sup>13</sup>c and <sup>14</sup>c isotope analysis

Dual carbon isotope analysis of marine aerosol samples has been performed for the first time demonstrating a potential in organic matter apportionment between three principal sources: marine, terrestrial (non-fossil) and fossil fuel due to unique isotopic signatures. The results presented here, utilising combinations of dual carbon isotope analysis, provides conclusive evidence of a dominant biogenic organic fraction to organic aerosol over biologically active oceans. In particular, the NE Atlantic, which is also subjected to notable anthropogenic influences via pollution transport processes, was found to contain 80% organic aerosol matter of biogenic origin directly linked to plankton emissions. The remaining carbonaceous aerosol was of terrestrial origin. By contrast, for polluted air advected out from Europe into the NE Atlantic, the source apportionment is 30% marine biogenic, 40% fossil fuel, and 30% continental non-fossil fuel. The dominant marine organic aerosol source in the atmosphere has significant implications for climate change feedback processes