Pu and Am sorption to the Baltic Sea bottom sediments

Title: Pu and Am sorption to the Baltic Sea bottom sediments

Author: G. Lujanienė, P. Beneš, K. Štamberg, K. Jokšas, I. Kulakauskaitė

Reference: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry , March 2013, Volume 295, Issue 3, pp 1957-1967

DOI: 10.1007/s10967-012-2281-1

Keywords: Pu(IV), Pu(V), Bottom sediments, Seawater, Sorption

Abstract: Sorption of Am and Pu isotopes to bottom sediments of the Baltic Sea has been studied under natural and laboratory conditions. Data obtained from sequential extraction, sorption of Am(III), Pu(IV) and Pu(V) as well as oxidation state distribution experiments have shown that Pu(V) sorption mechanism includes a very fast Pu(V) reduction (reaction rate ≤ 2.33 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹) to Pu(IV) by humic substances and/or by Fe(II) to Pu(IV) and partly to Pu(III). Following reduction Pu isotopes were bound to various components of bottom sediments via ion exchange and surface complexation reactions and a slow incorporation into the crystalline structure of Fe minerals. Kinetics experiments showed that the sorption of Pu(V), Pu(IV) and Am(III) to bottom sediments from natural seawater was controlled by the inert layer diffusion process.

ＵＲＬ：http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10967-012-2281-1

A three-dimensional model for the dispersion of radioactive substances in marine ecosystems. Application to the Baltic Sea after the Chernobyl disaster

Title: A three-dimensional model for the dispersion of radioactive substances in marine ecosystems. Application to the Baltic Sea after the Chernobyl disaster

Author: M. Toscano-Jimenez, R. García-Tenorio

Reference: Ocean Engineering, Volume 31, Issues 8–9, June 2004, Pages 999-1018

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2003.11.003

Keywords: 3-D model; Diffusion scales; ¹³⁷Cs; Chernobyl; Baltic Sea

Abstract: A 3-D dispersion model has been developed to simulate the dispersion of nuclear contaminants in marine ecosystems. This model is characterized by presenting high spatial resolution, by taking into account the possible sedimentation of a fraction of the contaminants, and by formulating the diffusion processes using an original approach.

The model has been applied and validated taking the Baltic Sea as its scenario, and using the ¹³⁷Cs originating from the Chernobyl accident as the substance which experienced the dispersion. The simulation of a year’s dispersion of the ¹³⁷Cs in the Baltic sea (just after the Chernobyl accident) has been performed.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029801804000046