Determination of Plutonium Activity Concentrations and 240Pu/239Pu Atom Ratios in Brown Algae (Fucus distichus) Collected from Amchitka Island, Alaska.

Hamilton, T F ; Brown, T A ; Marchetti, A A ; Martinelli, R E ; Kehl, S R

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

关键词: Pacific Ocean;    Source Terms;    Sediments;    Plutonium Isotopes;    43 Particle Accelerators;   

DOI  :  10.2172/15016341
RP-ID  :  UCRL-TR-212129
RP-ID  :  W-7405-ENG-48
RP-ID  :  15016341

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Plutonium-239 ({sup 239}Pu) and plutonium-240 ({sup 240}Pu) activity concentrations and {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratios are reported for Brown Algae (Fucus distichus) collected from the littoral zone of Amchitka Island (Alaska) and at a control site on the Alaskan peninsula. Plutonium isotope measurements were performed in replicate using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). The average {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratio observed in dried Fucus d. collected from Amchitka Island was 0.227 {+-} 0.007 (n=5) and compares with the expected {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratio in integrated worldwide fallout deposition in the Northern Hemisphere of 0.1805 {+-} 0.0057 (Cooper et al., 2000). In general, the characteristically high {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu content of Fucus d. analyzed in this study appear to indicate the presence of a discernible basin-wide secondary source of plutonium entering the marine environment. Of interest to the study of plutonium source terms within the Pacific basin are reports of elevated {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratios in fallout debris from high-yield atmospheric nuclear tests conducted in the Marshall Islands during the 1950s (Diamond et al., 1960), the wide range of {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratio values (0.19 to 0.34) observed in sea water, sediments, coral and other environmental media from the North Pacific Ocean (Hirose et al., 1992; Buesseler, 1997) and updated estimates of the relative contributions of close-in and intermediate fallout deposition on oceanic inventories of radionuclidies, especially in the Northern Pacific Ocean (Hamilton, 2004).