Detection of Uranium from Cosmos-1402 in the Stratosphere

Abstract

The nuclear reactor from the Soviet radar reconnaissance satellite, Cosmos-1402, reentered the earth's atmosphere on 7 February 1983 and disintegrated over the South Atlantic Ocean. The reactor was powered by approximately 50 kilograms of uranium-235 ((235)U). In an effort to determine the fate of the reactor core, a series of aerosol samples were collected at altitudes between 27 and 36 kilometers in the Northern Hemisphere approximately 1.1 years later by high-altitude balloons. At an altitude of 36 kilometers a 53 +/- 20 percent excess in the (235)U concentration was measured. The total excess of (235)U in the stratosphere was calculated to be 44 +/- 15 kilograms.

Isotope ratio analysis of actinides, fission products, and geolocators by high-efficiency multi-collector thermal ionization mass spectrometry

“…This includes questions posed by nuclear forensic investigations and the attribution of illegally trafficked nuclear material ("nuclear smuggling") and nuclear safeguards [1][2][3][4][5], bioassay [6][7][8][9][10][11], environmental monitoring [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] and post-detonation attribution and nuclear accident analysis [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. These analytical methods are also applied for speciation of actinides and assessment of contaminated sites and nuclear waste repositories [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], studies of geological and biological cycles [36][37][38][39], search for transuranics and extinct or primordial radionuclides in nature [40][41][42][43][44][45][46], burn-up and...…”

Space industrialization

“…Five years later, the nuclear reactor core of Cosmos 1402 fell into the South Atlantic Ocean (Leifer et al 1987;Rich 1983). In order to track and ascertain the whereabouts of the reactor core, a series of aerosol samples were collected about a year later at altitudes between 27 and 36 km using high-altitude balloons.…”

“…In order to track and ascertain the whereabouts of the reactor core, a series of aerosol samples were collected about a year later at altitudes between 27 and 36 km using high-altitude balloons. The results showed that 235 U concentrations were higher than background levels by 53 ± 20% at an altitude of 36 km, and the total excess of 235 U was estimated to be 44 ± 15 kg in the stratosphere (Paddy 1983;Leifer et al 1987). Given the long half-lives of radioactive isotopes, it is likely that space nuclear fuels and radioactive materials will eventually spread into earth's atmosphere, causing radioactive pollution for many years after the life of the space object ends (Levi 2007).…”

An aerosol particle containing enriched uranium encountered in the remote upper troposphere

“…Releases of enriched uranium and other radionuclides into the atmosphere have been reviewed by Salbu and Lind (2011). Besides major single releases such as the Chernobyl reactor failure or the burnup of the Cosmos satellite reactors (Krey et al, 1979;Leifer et al, 1987), longer-term sources of uranium such as windblown dust from nuclear test sites have been postulated to increase the 235 U content of atmospheric uranium (Kikiwada et al, 2009). Apart from isolated events, most of the uranium in the remote atmosphere is not enriched.…”