Studies of the speciation, colloidal association and remobilisation of plutonium in the marine environment

Mitchell, P.I.; Downes, A.B.; Vintró, Luis León; McMahon, C. A.

doi:10.1016/s1569-4860(01)80014-0

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…corals, as surface complexes (Keeneykennicutt and Morse, 1985;Meece and Benninger, 1993;Gouzy et al, 2005b). Field studies of coastal seawater have shown that colloidal Pu (>1 kDa) is only a minor fraction of the total Pu in seawater (Dai et al, 2001;Mitchell et al, 2001). …”

Section: Behaviour Of Pu In the Marine Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plutonium isotopes as tracers for ocean processes: A review

Lindahl

Lee

Worsfold

et al. 2010

Marine Environmental Research

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Since the first nuclear weapons tests in the 1940s, pulsed inputs of plutonium isotopes have served as excellent tracers for understanding sources, pathways, dynamics and the fate of pollutants and particles in the marine environment. Due to the well-defined spatial and temporal inputs of Pu, the long half- Pu and its unique chemical properties, Pu is a potential tracer for various physical and biogeochemical ocean processes, including circulation, sedimentation and biological productivity, and hence a means of assessing the impacts of global climate change. Due to the source dependency of the Pu isotopic signature, plutonium isotopes are beginning to be exploited as tools for the evaluation and improvement of regional and global ocean models that will enhance understanding of past and future changes in the oceans. This paper addresses the major sources of Pu and the physical and biogeochemical behaviour in the marine environment. Finally, the use of Pu isotopes as tracers for various oceanic processes (e.g. water mass transport, particle export, and sedimentation) is considered.

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Section: Behaviour Of Pu In the Marine Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plutonium isotopes as tracers for ocean processes: A review

Lindahl

Lee

Worsfold

et al. 2010

Marine Environmental Research

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“…We refer here not only to circulation patterns but also, for example, other differences such as salinity, suspended or sinking particulates and colloidal matter concentration or sediment biogeochemistry which can have an effect on the speciation and mobility of radionuclides (Mitchell et al, 2001).…”

Section: Are We Well Prepared In Case Of An Accidental Release In Eurmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine radioecology after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident: Are we better positioned to understand the impact of radionuclides in marine ecosystems?

Batlle

Aoyama

Bradshaw

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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This paper focuses on how a community of researchers under the COMET (CO-ordination and iMplementation of a pan European projecT for radioecology) project has improved the capacity of marine radioecology to understand at the process level the behaviour of radionuclides in the marine environment, uptake by organisms and the resulting doses after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident occurred in 2011. We present new radioecological understanding of the processes involved, such as the interaction of waterborne radionuclides with suspended particles and sediments or the biological uptake and turnover of radionuclides, which have been better quantified and mathematically described.We demonstrate that biokinetic models can better represent radionuclide transfer to biota in nonequilibrium situations, bringing more realism to predictions, especially when combining physical, chemical and biological interactions that occur in such an open and dynamic environment as the ocean. As a result, we are readier now than we were before the FDNPP accident in terms of having models that can be applied to dynamic situations.The paper concludes with our vision for marine radioecology as a fundamental research discipline and we present a strategy for our discipline at the European and international levels. The lessons learned 2 are presented along with their possible applicability to assess/reduce the environmental consequences of future accidents to the marine environment and guidance for future research, as well as to assure sustainability of marine radioecology in Europe and globally. This guidance necessarily reflects on why and where further research funding is needed, signalling the way for future investigations.3

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“…CFs have been widely used to describe the transfer of radionuclides from water, including seawater, to organisms. 1 − 9 CFs allow a rapid but unspecific evaluation of the radionuclide activity in an organism ( e.g. , species of fish and shellfish) based on dividing the concentration of a radionuclide in the organism per unit wet mass ( c org ) by the bulk water concentration ( c bulk ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Isotopes of plutonium, americium, and uranium are among the most radiologically significant radionuclides in the oceans due to their long half-lives, alpha-particle emissions, and significant inventories in seawater and sediments. Despite their dilution in seawater, accumulations of these actinides within aquatic organisms can be several orders of magnitude higher than their waterborne concentration − [their concentration factor (CF)]. The accumulation of actinides within marine biota must therefore be monitored to ensure that the radiation dose received by human consumers does not reach hazardous levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-Integrated Bioavailability Proxy for Actinides in a Contaminated Estuary

et al. 2022

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Actinides accumulate within aquatic biota in concentrations several orders of magnitude higher than in the seawater [the concentration factor (CF)], presenting an elevated radiological and biotoxicological risk to human consumers. CFs currently vary widely for the same radionuclide and species, which limits the accuracy of the modeled radiation dose to the public through seafood consumption. We propose that CFs will show less dispersion if calculated using a time-integrated measure of the labile (bioavailable) fraction instead of a specific spot sample of bulk water. Herein, we assess recently developed configurations of the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) sampling technique to provide a more accurate predictor for the bioaccumulation of uranium, plutonium, and americium within the biota of the Sellafield-impacted Esk Estuary (UK). We complement DGT data with the cross-flow ultrafiltration of bulk seawater to assess the DGT-labile fraction versus the bulk concentration. Sequential elution of Fucus vesiculosis reveals preferential internalization and strong intracellular binding of less particle-reactive uranium. We find significant variations between CF values in biota calculated using a spot sample versus using DGT, which suggest an underestimation of the CF by spot sampling in some cases. We therefore recommend a revision of CF values using time-integrated bioavailability proxies.

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Studies of the speciation, colloidal association and remobilisation of plutonium in the marine environment

Cited by 9 publications

References 22 publications

Plutonium isotopes as tracers for ocean processes: A review

Plutonium isotopes as tracers for ocean processes: A review

Marine radioecology after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident: Are we better positioned to understand the impact of radionuclides in marine ecosystems?

Time-Integrated Bioavailability Proxy for Actinides in a Contaminated Estuary

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