Temporal change in fallout {sup 137}Cs in terrestrial and aquatic systems: A whole ecosystem approach
Journal Article
·
· Environmental Science and Technology
- Inst. of Freshwater Ecology, Wareham (United Kingdom)
- Russian Inst. of Agricultural Radiology and Agroecology, Obninsk (Russian Federation)
- Inst. of Terrestrial Ecology, Cumbria (United Kingdom)
During the years after a nuclear accident, the bioavailability and environmental mobility of radiocesium declines markedly, resulting in large changes in contamination of foodstuffs, vegetation, and surface waters. Predicting such changes is crucial to the determination of potential doses to affected populations and therefore to the implementation of radiological countermeasures. The authors have analyzed 77 data sets of radiocesium ({sup 137}Cs) activity concentrations in milk, vegetation, and surface waters after the Chernobyl accident. Their results show that the rate of decline in {sup 137}Cs during the years after Chernobyl is remarkably consistent in all three ecosystem components, having a mean effective half-life, T{sub eff} {approx} 2 years. By comparing changes in {sup 137}Cs availability with rates of diffusion of {sup 40}K (a close analogue) into the lattice of an illitic clay the authors have, for the first time, directly linked changes in the environmental availability of {sup 137}Cs to fixation processes at a mechanistic level. These changes are consistent with declines in the exchangeable fraction of {sup 137}Cs in soils.
- OSTI ID:
- 298235
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 33; ISSN ESTHAG; ISSN 0013-936X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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