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U.S. Department of Energy
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Radioelement studies in the oceans. Final report, 15 April 1981-14 September 1983

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5433630

Significant advances into the post-depositional (or diagenetic) chemistry of radionuclides have been made by developing a method to study the pore water chemistry of /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu, /sup 137/Cs, /sup 55/Fe, and several natural radionuclides (U, Th, Ra, /sup 210/Po, /sup 210/Pb). Field (box coring) and laboratory studies demonstrate that /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu has an insignificant diagenetic mobility in nearshore sediments. /sup 137/Cs, in contrast, appears to be significantly mobile and undergoes rapid ion-exchange reactions, while U has an active redox-complexation sediment chemistry. A major emphasis has been on Windscale nuclear fuel reprocessing radionuclide studies in the Irish Sea, Minch, North Sea, and Norwegian and Greenland Seas. This work has demonstrated the dramatic penetration of these radionuclides (especially /sup 137/Cs) through the Irish Sea, Minch, and North Sea into the upper 1000 m of the Norwegian and Greenland Seas. Measurements of /sup 137/Cs, /sup 134/Cs, and /sup 90/Sr from samples collected in the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans during Transient Tracers in Oceanography (TTO) cruise in 1981 provide a valuable and unique set of data to the tracer studies in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Research Organization:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-81EV10694
OSTI ID:
5433630
Report Number(s):
DOE/EV/10694-9; ON: DE84005449
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English