Speaker
Description
A.J. López-Fuentes1,2, E. Chamizo2, M. López-Lora2,3, J. Mantero1, J.M. Abril4, M. Ilie5, T. Sava5, G. Ion6
1Department of Applied Physics II, E.T.S.A., University of Seville, Seville, Spain
2Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA), Seville, Spain
3Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics, Physics Faculty, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
4Department of Applied Physics I, E.T.S.I.A, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
5Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania
6National Institute of Marine Geology and Geo-Ecology (GeoEcoMar), Bucharest, Romania
Scarce data exist on the presence of anthropogenic radionuclides in the Black Sea. This region might have been affected by different regional contamination sources, such as the Chernobyl accident in 1986 (former Soviet Union, now Ukraine), the fallout due to the atmospheric tests carried out by former Soviet Union, or leakages from the different nuclear facilities on its borders. These sources coexist with the global fallout (GF) signal from the atmospheric testing of thermonuclear weapons mainly in the 1950s and the 1960s.
This work reports results on 137Cs and anthropogenic actinides in three sediment cores from the northwestern Black Sea, with the aim of assessing the contamination sources to this understudied marine region. Those results are complemented by a 210Pb dating. The samples were provided by the Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (HH-IFIN) and the National Institute of Marine Geology and Geo-Ecology (GeoEcoMar), both in Bucharest, Romania.
Firstly, natural occurring radionuclides (210Pb, 214Pb and 214Bi) and 137Cs were characterized by gamma spectrometry at the University of Seville, Spain. Subsequently, the samples were chemically processed to separate: i) Pu, Np and U in the three target cores; and ii) additionally, Am in one of the cores, following the radiochemical method described in (M. López-Lora, this conference). The presence of 236U, 237Np, 239Pu, 240Pu, 241Am and 243Am was then investigated on the 1 MV Acceleration Mass Spectrometry (AMS) system at CNA, Seville, Spain.
Results on the atomic ratios 240Pu/239Pu, 236U/238U and 243Am/241Am will be presented for an evaluation of the contamination sources and assess the studied elements in the context of an anoxic environment like the Black Sea.
| Student Submission | Yes |
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