Plutonium, cesium and uranium series radionuclides in the Hudson River estuary and other environments. Annual technical progress report, 1 December 1980-30 November 1981

Technical Report · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5823101

Simpson, H J; Trier, R M

Radionuclide activities were measured in sediment cores and suspended particle samples throughout the salinity range of the Hudson River estuary. Activities of /sup 137/Cs, /sup 134/Cs, /sup 60/Co, /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu, and /sup 238/Pu indicate reasonably rapid accumulation rates in the sediments of marginal cove areas, and very rapid deposition in the harbor region adjacent to New York City, resulting in /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu accumulations there more than an order of magnitude greater than the fallout delivery rate. Fallout /sup 239/ /sup 240/Pu reaching the Hudson is almost completely retained within the systems by particle deposition, while 80 to 90% of the /sup 137/Cs derived from both reactor releases and fallout is exported to the coastal waters in solution. Depth profiles of radionuclides in Hudson sediments are not significantly altered by physical mixing processes in the sediments in areas accumulating particles at greater than 1 cm/yr.

• Research Organization: Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (USA). Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory
• DOE Contract Number: AS02-76EV12529
• OSTI ID: 5823101
• Report Number(s): DOE/EV/12529-T1; COO-2529-19; ON: DE82000658
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520302* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Aquatic Ecosystems & Food Chains-- (-1987)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CESIUM 134
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
COASTAL WATERS
COBALT 60
COBALT ISOTOPES
DATA
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
ESTUARIES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HEAVY NUCLEI
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
HUDSON RIVER
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LAKES
MASS TRANSFER
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MONITORING
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 240
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
PROTACTINIUM 231
PROTACTINIUM ISOTOPES
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
RIVERS
SEDIMENTS
SOLUBILITY
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
THORIUM 228
THORIUM 230
THORIUM 232
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM 234
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES