Actinides, accelerators and erosion

Fallout isotopes can be used as artificial tracers of soil erosion and sediment accumulation. The most commonly used isotope to date has been 137Cs. Concentrations of 137Cs are, however, significantly lower in the Southern Hemisphere, and furthermore hav

Uranium comparison by means of AMS and ICP-MS and Pu and 137Cs results around an Italian nuclear power plant

Italy built and commissioned 4 nuclear power plants between 1958-1978, which delivered a total of 1500 MW. All four were closed down after the Chernobyl accident following a referendum in 1987. One of the plants was Garigliano, commissioned in 1959. This plant used a 160 MW BWR1 (SEU of 2.3 %) and was operational from 1964 to 1979, when it was switched off for maintenance. It was definitively stopped in 1982, and is presently being decommissioned. We report here details on the chemistry procedure and on the measurements for soil samples, collected up to 4.5 km from the Nuclear Plant. A comparison between uranium (238U) concentration as determined by means of AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) and by ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry) techniques respectively at the ANU (Australian National University) and at the Ecowise company in Canberra, Australia, is reported, as well as 236U and 239;240Pu concentration results detected by AMS. 236U/238U and 240Pu/239Pu isotopic ratios by means of AMS are also provided. A contamination from Chernobyl is visible in the 137Cs/239+240Pu activity ratio measurements

Improving the detection limit for 182 Hf

A nearby supernova would deposit radionuclides on earth. The long-lived radionuclide 182Hf (t1/2 = 8.9 Ma) is one of a number of candidates for an isotopic signature of such an event. Together with 60Fe, observation of 182Hf would be direct evidence for a supernova site of the r-process. The most suitable site for searching for such a signature would be a deep-sea sediment of slow deposition rate. Measurement of 182Hf at the anticipated level requires very effective suppression of the interfering stable isobar 182W. Chemical separation and the injection of HfF5- allow for suppression by several orders of magnitude, but more is needed for detection of 182Hf as a supernova isotope signature. We are currently developing AMS methods for measuring 182Hf/180Hf isotope ratios at the required level using a 15 MV tandem accelerator . Both projectile X-ray emission and the use of a solid passive absorber with a subsequent measurement of the residual energy are being explored. The former suffers from low efficiency, but the latter looks promising

A study of soil formation rates using 10Be in the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia

A catchment level study to obtain soil formation rates using beryllium-10 (10Be) tracers has been undertaken in the Daly River Basin in the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia. Three soil cores have been collected to bedrock, with depths ranging from

Towards a radiocarbon calibration for oxygen isotope stage 3 using New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis)

It is well known that radiocarbon years do not directly equate to calendar time. As a result, considerable effort has been devoted to generating a decadally resolved calibration curve for the Holocene and latter part of the last termination. A calibration curve that can be unambiguously attributed to changes in atmospheric ¹⁴C content has not, however, been generated beyond 26 kyr cal BP, despite the urgent need to rigorously test climatic, environmental, and archaeological models. Here, we discuss the potential of New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) to define the structure of the ¹⁴C calibration curve using annually resolved tree rings and thereby provide an absolute measure of atmospheric ¹⁴C. We report bidecadally sampled ¹⁴C measurements obtained from a floating 1050-yr chronology, demonstrating repeatable ¹⁴C measurements near the present limits of the dating method. The results indicate that considerable scope exists for a high-resolution ¹⁴C calibration curve back through OIS-3 using subfossil wood from this source

Record of ³H and ³⁶Cl from the Fukushima nuclear accident recovered from soil water in the unsaturated zone at Koriyama

The opportunity to measure the concentrations of ³H and ³⁶Cl released by the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 directly in rain was lost in the early stage of the accident. We have, however, been able to reconstruct the deposition record of atmospheric ³H and ³⁶Cl following the accident using a bore hole that was drilled in 2014 at Koriyama at a distance of 60 km from the accident. The contributions of ³H and ³⁶Cl from the accident are 1.4 × 10¹³ and 2.0 × 10¹² atoms m⁻² respectively at this site. Very high concentrations of both ³H (46 Bq L⁻¹) and ³⁶Cl (3.36 × 10¹¹ atoms L⁻¹) were found in the unsaturated soil at depths between 300 and 350 cm. From these, conservative estimates for the ³H and ³⁶Cl concentrations in the precipitation in the ～ 6 weeks following the accident were 607 Bq L⁻¹ and 4.74 × 10¹⁰ atoms L⁻¹, respectively. A second hole drilled in 2016 showed that ³H concentrations in the unsaturated soil and shallow groundwater had returned to close to natural levels, although the ³⁶Cl concentrations were still significantly elevated above natural levels

Novel matching lens and spherical ionizer for a cesium sputter ion source

The beam optics of a multi-sample sputter ion source, based on the NECMCSNICS, has been modified to accommodate cathode voltages higher than 5 kV and dispenses with the nominal extractor. The cathode voltage in Cs sputter sources plays the role of the classical extractor accomplishing the acceleration of beam particles from eV to keV energy, minimizing space charge effects and interactions between the beam and residual gas. The higher the cathode voltage, the smaller are these contributions to the emittance growth. The higher cathode voltage also raises the Child’s law limit on the Cs current resulting in substantially increased output. The incidental focusing role of the extractor is reallocated to a deceleration Einzel lens and the velocity change needed to match to the pre-acceleration tube goes to a new electrode at the tube entrance. All electrodes are large enough to ensure that the beam fills less than 30% of the aperture to minimize aberrations. The improvements are applicable to sputter sources generally

Determination of total I and 129I concentrations in freshwater of Argentina

Total iodine and129-iodine in rivers and lakes of Argentina were measured by means of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and accelerator mass spectrometry respectively. The obtained isotopic ratios, higher than the natural level, are explained

Measurements of low-level anthropogenic radionuclides from soils around Maralinga

The isotopes 239Pu and 240Pu are present in surface soils as a result of global fallout from nuclear weapons tests carried out in the 1950's and 1960's. These isotopes constitute artificial tracers of recent soil erosion and sediment movement. In practic

Continuous transport of Pacific-derived anthropogenic radionuclides towards the Indian Ocean

Unusually high concentrations of americium and plutonium have been observed in a sediment core collected from the eastern Lombok Basin between Sumba and Sumbawa Islands in the Indonesian Archipelago. Gamma spectrometry and accelerator mass spectrometry data together with radiometric dating of the core provide a high-resolution record of ongoing deposition of anthropogenic radionuclides. A plutonium signature characteristic of the Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) dominates in the first two decades after the start of the high yield atmospheric tests in 1950’s. Approximately 40–70% of plutonium at this site in the post 1970 period originates from the PPG. This sediment record of transuranic isotopes deposition over the last 55 years provides evidence for the continuous long-distance transport of particle-reactive radionuclides from the Pacific Ocean towards the Indian Ocean