RADIOACTIVE FALL-OUT IN AIR AND RAIN RESULTS TO THE MIDDLE OF 1962
Samples of atmospheric dust and rain were collected from the United Kingdom and overseas. Results are presented of the analyses of these samples for various fission products. As a consequence of the Russian nuclear explosions in the autumn of 1961 the concentrations of Cs-137, in air at ground level over the United Kingdom increased to levels that are about three times those of 1960 and 1961 and about one third of the levels of 1959. The concentrations of Cs-137 and Sr-90 in rain at Miiford Haven have increased in greater proportion than those in air. Furthermore because of higher rainfall the deposition of Sr-90 at Milford Haven in the first six months of 1982 is similar to that in the same period of 1959. The proportion of new radioactivity in samples collected in the United Kingdom during 1962 is about 85% for strontium-90 in rain and 60% for cesium-137 in air. The new debris is mainly restricted to the northern hemisphere although small but significant amounts were transferred very rapidly to the southern hemisphere. Before the Russian tests in 1981 the concentrations of long-lived fission products measured in rainwater were approaching an apparent equality between the northern and southern hemispheres. Integration over the world of the deposition of strontium-90 in rain provides an estimate of the total global deposition to the end of 1981. The velocity of dry deposition, measured upon artificial surfaces, increased considerably during the period of tropospheric fallout from September to November 1961, Concentrations of Zr-95 and Ba-140 in air and rain, using a daily or weekly sampling period are given in an Appendix. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Research Group. Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, Berks, England and United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Research Group. Chemistry Div., Woolwich Outstation, England
- NSA Number:
- NSA-17-008425
- OSTI ID:
- 4724088
- Report Number(s):
- AERE-R-4094
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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