Darmstadt 2008 – scientific programme
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MS: Fachverband Massenspektrometrie
MS 4: Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) II
MS 4.1: Talk
Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 11:00–11:15, 3E
Natural and anthropogenic 236U in environmental samples — •Peter Steier1, Max Bichler2, L. Keith Fifield3, Robin Golser1, Walter Kutschera1, Alfred Priller1, Francesca Quinto4, Stephan Richter5, Michaela Srncik6, Philippo Terrasi4, Lukas Wacker7, Anton Wallner1, Gabriele Wallner6, Klaus M. Wilcken8, and Eva Maria Wild1 — 1VERA Laboratory, Fakultät für Physik - Isotopenforschung, Universität Wien, Währinger Straße 17, A-1090 Wien, Austria. — 2TU Wien, Austria — 3ANU, Canberra, Australia — 4SUN, Napoli, Italy — 5IRMM, Geel, Belgium — 6Universität Wien, Austria — 7ETH Zürich, Switzerland — 8SUERC, Glasgow, U.K.
At the Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) we have investigated 236U/U isotopic ratios in various environmental samples and found natural isotopic ratios: in uranium reagents separated before the onset of human nuclear activities, in uranium ores from various origins, and in water from a subsurface well with high uranium content in Bad Gastein, Austria. Whereas river sediments near the shut-down Garigliano nuclear power plant (Southern Italy) were close to the sensitivity limit of 2×107 atoms 236U per sample (1 g dry mass or 1 L of water), an anthropogenic contamination was clearly visible in soil and rivulet samples from Salzburg, Austria.
The paper combines newly measured and previously published data to provide a survey of anthropogenic and natural 236U in the environment, and compares the results with calculated estimates.