Soviet-Built Nuclear Plants and Their Safety

Onishi, Yasuo; Voitsekhovich, Oleg V.; Zheleznyak, Mark

doi:10.1007/1-4020-5349-5_1

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 6 publications

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“…Plutonium (Pu) isotopes have been released into various environments since 1945 through above ground testing of nuclear weapons (Harley, 1980), nuclear fuel reprocessing, and the operation of and accidents involving nuclear power generation and other nuclear activities (Muramatsu et al, 2000;Onishi et al, 2007Froehlich et al, 2019). The nuclear weapon tests conducted in the early 1960s are the main source of Pu in the terrestrial environments, and it has been reported that the total amount of 239+240 Pu released from these tests is estimated to be approximately 11 PBq (UNSCEAR, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative assessment of the spatial distribution of 239+240Pu inventory derived from global fallout in soils from Asia and Europe

et al. 2022

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Due to the atmospheric nuclear weapon tests carried out, terrestrial environments have been extensively contaminated by global fallout of plutonium (Pu) worldwide. The 249+240 Pu inventories in soil profiles from undisturbed and flat forest or grasslands (reference sites) mainly from Europe and Asia are considered as important background for evaluating soil erosion. Thus, we conducted a literature survey over an area extending from 2.6°W to 148.9°E and from 53.2°S to 76.6°N, with the purpose of analyzing the spatial distribution of 239+240 Pu inventories and possible controlling factors. The aim of this work was to derive an empirical model of 239+240 Pu inventory based on currently available 239+240 Pu data, precipitation and latitude. The results show that, in general, the latitudinal distribution of 239+240 Pu inventory was consistent with the UNSCEAR reports. However, the 239+240 Pu inventories are higher than the UNSCEAR data, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. In addition, close relationships (at the 0.01 significance level) were identified between 239+240 Pu inventories and annual precipitation and latitude. An empirical formula was therefore developed to estimate 239+240 Pu inventories in soils based on latitude and precipitation data. However, future research may require more data of measured 239+240 Pu inventories in soil profiles that can be used to compare, validate and improve upon the accuracy of the inferred empirical equation.

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