Radioactive contamination of the environment with241Am as a result of the chernobyl accident

Abstract

The Chernobyl accident resulted in the contamination of the environment with long-lived radionuclides, including transuranium elements. The results, more accurate than the data of [1], for the production of the basic long-lived radionuclides in the reactor core where the accident occurred [2] are presented in Table 1.According to Table 1, the 241pu contribution to the total activity of transuranium elements accumulated in the reactor core is about 84%. Since the same amounts escaped into the atmosphere during the accident (3% [1]), this remark is also valid with respect to the radioactive contamination of the environment.The contamination of the environment by 24tAm is due both to its direct emission from the reactor core and the subsequent accumulation as a result of B-decay of 241Pu.The time dependence of the accumulation of 241Am activity in the environment is described by the equationwhere Aot and A02 are, respectively, the 24tpu and 24tAm emissions during the accident (in PBq); X t = 0.0482 yr -t is the decay constant of 241pu; X 2 = 0.0016 yr -I is the decay constant of 241Am; and, t is the time after the accident (in yr).We now introduce the function Y(t), which is the ratio of the 241Am activity at time t to the activity of the material emitted during the accident, i.e., Y(t) = A2(t)/A02.From Eq.(1) we obtain the expressionwhere k = X2/(X l -X2)(AoJA02 ).It is easy to show that the maximum of the function Y(t)

Formation of americium(III) complexes with aqueous silicic acid

“…portance for radiological assessments of plutonium con-52 taminated areas [5], more information about the interaction 53 of 241 Am with the silicate anion will be of interest. We The distribution coefficient D 0 can be described by values for log TTA β 3 ϭ 13.5, log P HA ϭ 1.84 and pK a ϭ 157 6.23 also given by [8] for Am(OSi(OH) 3 ) 2ϩ however, suggests that the existence 211 of silicic acid complexes with americium has to be taken 212 into account for Am 3ϩ speciation in natural water systems 213 and may influence its migration behavior very strongly.…”