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MS: Fachverband Massenspektrometrie
MS 14: Accelerator Mass Spectrometry and Applications 4
MS 14.3: Talk
Friday, March 27, 2015, 11:45–12:00, PH/HS2
Determination of plutonium and uranium in environmental samples from Fukushima — •Stephanie Schneider1, Marcus Christl2, Georg Steinhauser3, and Clemens Walther1 — 1Institut für Radioökologie und Strahlenschutz, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover — 2Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zürich, Switzerland — 3Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, United States of America
During the Fukushima accident significant amounts of radioactive nuclides were released into the atmosphere, including small amounts of actinides. Previous investigations showed a strong localization of plutonium, which indicates a particulate release of this element from the NPP. As plutonium is of a high radiological relevance if incorporated, further investigations on vegetation, litter and soil samples taken at 8 different sampling sites in the vicinity of the damaged reactor were conducted. Accelerator mass spectrometry is a powerful tool to determine even lowest concentrations. For these measurements the samples were first leached and then uranium and plutonium were chemically separated using extraction chromatography. Here we use the 236U/238U and the 240Pu/239Pu isotopic ratios as indicators to distinguish between global fallout and releases from a nuclear reactor.