U-236/U-238 and Pu-240/Pu-239 isotopic ratios in small (2 L) sea and river water samples

Autor(en)

R. Eigl, M. Srncik, P. Steier, Gabriele Wallner

Abstrakt

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and alpha spectrometry were used to determine uranium (²³⁶U, ²³⁸U, ²³⁴U) and plutonium isotopes (²³⁹Pu, ²⁴⁰Pu) in sea and river water samples. Plutonium was separated by Dowex^® 1 × 8 resin and UTEVA^® resin was used for uranium purification. The measured ²³⁶U/²³⁸U isotopic ratios for surface water from the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Black Sea were in the order of 10⁻⁹, while values for river water were in the order of 10⁻⁸.

These contaminations may be attributed to global fallout. A sample of

the reference material IAEA-443, collected from the Irish Sea, showed,

in accordance to the reference value, a ratio that was 10³ times higher due to effluents from the reprocessing plant at Sellafield. These results underline the good suitability of ²³⁶U/²³⁸U

as a tracer for hydrology and oceanography, and show that relatively

small water samples are sufficient for the determination of ²³⁶U

by AMS, which is not the case for plutonium with present techniques.

The plutonium concentrations in our water samples could only be measured

with large uncertainties and were in the order of 10⁻³ mBq/L (with the exception of the Irish Sea sample).

Organisation(en)

Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Isotopenphysik

Journal

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Band

116

Seiten

54-58

Anzahl der Seiten

5

ISSN

0265-931X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2012.09.013

Publikationsdatum

02-2013

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

1030 Physik, Astronomie, 103031 Strahlenschutz, 104020 Radiochemie, 103005 Atomphysik

Schlagwörter

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/e2ecdd57-88aa-41e7-9e64-ee346faed26e