Determination of Plutonium Activity Concentrations and 240Pu/239Pu Atom Ratios in Brown Algae (Fucus distichus) Collected from Amchitka Island, Alaska.
Plutonium-239 ({sup 239}Pu) and plutonium-240 ({sup 240}Pu) activity concentrations and {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratios are reported for Brown Algae (Fucus distichus) collected from the littoral zone of Amchitka Island (Alaska) and at a control site on the Alaskan peninsula. Plutonium isotope measurements were performed in replicate using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). The average {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratio observed in dried Fucus d. collected from Amchitka Island was 0.227 {+-} 0.007 (n=5) and compares with the expected {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratio in integrated worldwide fallout deposition in the Northern Hemisphere of 0.1805 {+-} 0.0057 (Cooper et al., 2000). In general, the characteristically high {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu content of Fucus d. analyzed in this study appear to indicate the presence of a discernible basin-wide secondary source of plutonium entering the marine environment. Of interest to the study of plutonium source terms within the Pacific basin are reports of elevated {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratios in fallout debris from high-yield atmospheric nuclear tests conducted in the Marshall Islands during the 1950s (Diamond et al., 1960), the wide range of {sup 240}Pu/{sup 239}Pu atom ratio values (0.19 to 0.34) observed in sea water, sediments, coral and other environmental media from the North Pacific Ocean (Hirose et al., 1992; Buesseler, 1997) and updated estimates of the relative contributions of close-in and intermediate fallout deposition on oceanic inventories of radionuclidies, especially in the Northern Pacific Ocean (Hamilton, 2004).
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 15016341
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-TR-212129; TRN: US0502258
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 2 May 2005
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Accelerator Mass Spectrometric (AMS) Measurements of Plutonium Activity Concentrations and 240Pu/239Pu Atom Ratios In Soil Extracts Supplied by the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center
Estimation of Radiation Doses in the Marshall Islands Based on Whole Body Counting of Cesium-137 (137Cs) and Plutonium Urinalysis