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Measurement of fallout radionuclides, (239)(,240)Pu and (137)Cs, in soil and creek sediment: Sydney Basin, Australia
- Source :
- Journal of environmental radioactivity.
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Soil and sediment samples from the Sydney basin were measured to ascertain fallout radionuclide activity concentrations and atom ratios. Caesium-137 ((137)Cs) was measured using gamma spectroscopy, and plutonium isotopes ((239)Pu and (240)Pu) were quantified using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Fallout radionuclide activity concentrations were variable ranging from 0.6 to 26.1 Bq/kg for (137)Cs and 0.02-0.52 Bq/kg for (239+240)Pu. Radionuclides in creek sediment samples were an order of magnitude lower than in soils. (137)Cs and (239+240)Pu activity concentration in soils were well correlated (r(2) = 0.80) although some deviation was observed in samples collected at higher elevations. Soil ratios of (137)Cs/(239+240)Pu (decay corrected to 1/1/2014) ranged from 11.5 to 52.1 (average = 37.0 ± 12.4) and showed more variability than previous studies. (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratios ranged from 0.117 to 0.165 with an average of 0.146 (±0.013) and an error weighted mean of 0.138 (±0.001). These ratios are lower than a previously reported ratio for Sydney, and lower than the global average. However, these ratios are similar to those reported for other sites within Australia that are located away from former weapons testing sites and indicate that atom ratio measurements from other parts of the world are unlikely to be applicable to the Australian context.
- Subjects :
- Radioactive Fallout
Geologic Sediments
Water Pollutants, Radioactive
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
chemistry.chemical_element
Context (language use)
010501 environmental sciences
Structural basin
01 natural sciences
Mass Spectrometry
Environmental Chemistry
Soil Pollutants, Radioactive
Waste Management and Disposal
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Radionuclide
Radiochemistry
Sediment
General Medicine
Pollution
Plutonium
chemistry
Cesium Radioisotopes
Caesium-137
Soil water
New South Wales
Geology
Accelerator mass spectrometry
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18791700
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of environmental radioactivity
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....7c904e913ac2497f1bfb328917d8b164